


How Miserable, This Mortality

by Nathalaia



Category: VIXX
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Gods & Goddesses, Angst, Blood, Blood and Violence, Character Death, Dark, Gods, I had fun writing this, M/M, Minor Character Death, Porn With Plot, Rape, Rimming, Rough Sex, Sex, Sexual Slavery, Sexual Violence, Smut, Violence, Violent Porn With Plot, everyone is fucked up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-30
Updated: 2017-01-30
Packaged: 2018-09-20 19:40:21
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 21,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9509870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nathalaia/pseuds/Nathalaia
Summary: Their first meeting was in a dark and damp prison cell.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Happy New Year!
> 
> I ended 2016 on a bright note with This Is Ours and I even managed to keep my 2016 resolution, namely to kill less characters in my fics! Whoo!
> 
> I’m starting 2017 with trigger warnings. Isn’t that lovely? Hahaha.
> 
> This is actually a birthday present to my beta, and I was inspired by a gif and a quote; the quote you’ll get in my AN after the fic, and the gif. Uuh. I'll link it below!
> 
> Enjoy this violent porn with plot!

**Poster credit:[Spotlight Posters](http://www.asianfanfics.com/story/view/847707/spotlight-posters-open-graphics-poster-request-postershop-graphicshop-designer) ** on AsianFanfics.

**For aforementioned gif, click[here](https://66.media.tumblr.com/35859fe1ca9526bce306348627c72428/tumblr_ocu58plkzK1rxvi1oo2_500.gif)**.

* * *

_Their first meeting was in a dark and damp prison cell._

-

Taekwoon had stopped trying to keep track of the days when he realised that his meals weren’t guaranteed at set times a day, but rather whenever his captors bothered to remember their unfortunate prisoner. Funny, that. Their memory didn’t appear to suffer any such difficulties when it came to their frequent visits to leer and taunt. They backed him up in a corner, hooting when the first drop of blood spilled. The heavy iron shackles clasped around his wrists and attached to the wall behind him severely restricted his ability to fight back, so when their fists connected with his body, he could do little more but to scream and curl up as best he could and hope they wouldn’t aim for old wounds and bruises.

With meals being rare and his body clock thrown considerably off, the days eventually started melting together, becoming one long night to which he saw no end. The pitch-black oblivion of sleep became his friend, one he habitually sought out to escape life just for a little while. It was his last reprieve. While asleep, the cold and the hunger and the hopelessness that gnawed at his heart ceased to exist, the perpetual darkness poking at his sanity and whispering toxins into his ears quieting down to nothing.

He preferred the nothingness. Dreams served only to give him hope, gently taking him through memories and desires that would make him remember how it was to be happy, to laugh without his chest rattling and hurting, to smile without the sting of a split lip. But then he would wake up, he always did, and he would find himself back in a cold and dark place, and those remnants of hope his dreams had stirred up would crumple, crushed like a bloom beneath a cruel foot. There was no hope in a place like this. It was a simple question of when they tired of their toy and disposed of it, as they had done to Seoyeong.

He didn’t want dreams. He just wanted oblivion. If his sleep were taken over by the nightmares, from which he would wake screaming and thrashing, it would mean his one remaining solace snatched from him.

He didn’t think he could handle that.

Taekwoon didn’t know for how long he had been a prisoner, but his estimate was around two months. Two months of regular beatings and molestation, hunger, and exposure to the cold. And darkness. Nothing but that damned darkness and the heartless voices in his head.

Perhaps he would lose his mind before his captors tired of him. Or perhaps he would lay down his life to infection; his body was running alarmingly hot, a fever raging beneath his skin. It hadn’t killed him before, despite this not being the first fever in this loathed cell, but his body was weak after months of teetering on the verge of starvation. His resistance to diseases had to be alarmingly low.

His captors didn’t seem anywhere close to being tired of him yet, despite how quickly his sister had been taken from him, so it was quite possible that fever would actually be what ended his life. They cared very little about sanitation, especially that of their prisoner, despite how often they used his body. That, or one of their _sessions_ would wind up with him bleeding out on the stone floor of his cell. Pathetic.

_Taekwoon._

He inhaled deeply through his nose and dropped his head back against the wall, uncaring of the dull _thud_ and the ensuing throbbing in his skull. Pain was what reminded him that he was alive, as bleak as that was becoming. He squeezed his eyes shut, wanting nothing more than to fall asleep and be free of that voice. He wasn’t in the mood to deal with his slipping sanity.

_The hatred in your heart is tempting. I find myself drawn to it._

He blew out a breath, covering his ears with his palms and gritting his teeth. It was useless, he knew, when the voices came from his own head. Sleep was his only escape. But sometimes the voices took even that away from him.

_Humans are despicable. I understand your thirst for revenge._

He was so tired of the voices. He was so tired of the pain, of the hunger, of life. He just wanted to sleep and never wake up.

_I will help you._

Enough was enough _._ “ _Shut up!_ ” he exploded, the words resounding in this wretched cell that had become his entire world. _“Get out of my head!_ ”

Someone clicked their tongue.

Taekwoon’s eyes snapped open.

A man stood in front of him, tall and proud, and with the clearest pair of grey eyes he had ever seen looking straight at him. The man was sharp-faced and pale, lips quirked into a little smirk that Taekwoon didn’t know how to read, and with hair the colour of what appeared to be dark steel. The clothes he wore were not common in this part of the world, hugging his body in certain places and falling loosely in others, blues, greys, black. Taekwoon couldn’t help but notice the rings adorning the man’s slender fingers, refined, albeit Taekwoon didn’t doubt for a second that they were real gems. Silvery bracelets wrapped around both of his wrists, and in his ears, Taekwoon spotted at least two studs of what had to be more gems.

“And here I was,” the man said, in a low, silken voice betraying his amusement, “generously offering my help. Yet you, a mere human, tell me to _shut up_.”

“Who are you?” Taekwoon croaked. He swallowed dryly. It had been a while since he last talked, he realised. The guards were only ever interested in hearing him cry and scream and beg.

Belatedly it occurred to him that perhaps he ought to assume a politer tone with this man. He exuded raw strength in a way no one Taekwoon had ever met had, and Taekwoon had learned to recognise men who had power and knew it, and exploited it. This man was one of them, and yet – he was _more_. He could be royalty.

“I could be the one to help you escape.” The man gracefully sank into a crouch before Taekwoon, tilting his head proudly and humming to himself. “I am your last chance.” His fingers brushed Taekwoon’s jaw, ignoring Taekwoon’s wince when one pressed against a fading bruise. “I could punish the ones who did this to you.”

How had this man entered his cell? A glance to the door showed no sign of entry; it would’ve been hard to miss, too, if someone had opened it. It was old and rusty, and the hinges groaned loudly every time someone pulled at it. There was no other way into Taekwoon’s cell than through that door, and the man might be slender, but he couldn’t possibly have squeezed himself through the bars.

The man could not be in here. There was just no way. Yet here he was. It might have been Taekwoon finally losing it, but he felt too lucid to really believe that. He hadn’t lost his mind. Not yet.

“I am Jaehwan,” the man murmured. He was grinning when Taekwoon’s eyes returned to his face. “Do you want my help, or would you rather spend the rest of your mortal days rotting in here?”

When Taekwoon looked into Jaehwan’s eyes – that was when he concluded that this man was not human. There was something eerily all-knowing in them, like he saw right through Taekwoon. Like all of his secrets and deepest wishes laid bare for him. It was not a pleasant feeling, but Taekwoon was beyond the point of caring. If this were his last shot at freedom, _life_ , he would do just about anything. He couldn’t possibly lower himself any further than they had already forced him to do. “ _Please._ ”

Jaehwan’s hands fell to his wrists, to the shackles, and no sooner had he touched them than they clicked open and dropped to the stones with a _clonk_. The skin around Taekwoon’s wrists was inflamed after the latest beating and his attempts to shield himself from their fists and feet. Jaehwan carefully closed his hands around Taekwoon’s arms, above the tender skin. He made a soft noise.

“Humans,” he muttered. The _scorn_ that curled around that one word threw Taekwoon off for a beat. He allowed Jaehwan to bring him to his feet, and when he started to sway in place, legs wobbling beneath him, Jaehwan’s arm around his waist held him in place. “Foolish mortals, forgetting their place.”

Jaehwan. It was a name Taekwoon was familiar with; the realisation dawned on him, then. Jaehwan was the name of one of their gods. The man in front of him was a god, and not just any god: He was royalty, a ruler amongst gods.  Humans wouldn’t dare take a god’s name, especially not one known for holding grudges lasting lifetimes.

“I see you’re finally connecting the dots.” Jaehwan patted Taekwoon’s cheek, the smile he gave Taekwoon almost condescending. Taekwoon would have taken offence, but he was still reeling from everything. “Now, are you able to walk the rest of the way out of this prison, or do you need me to carry you?”

“I can walk,” Taekwoon whispered. Jaehwan’s arm withdrew, slowly, like he didn’t believe Taekwoon, but Taekwoon didn’t wobble again. He straightened his back, stretched his legs and his arms, hissing when the fabric of his clothes brushed his tender wrists. He would be all right to walk, he supposed. He was bruised all over, and his tailbone was sore after one of his captors had kicked him – yesterday, he thought, unless he’d slept less than he suspected. Or longer. It didn’t matter. He knew he reeked of piss and iron and dirt, and his clothes hung in tatters around his starved form. They hadn’t been changed since they locked the cell door behind him for the first time.

His face was probably a nightmare of bruises and scars and recent cuts from their knives, not to mention around his neck and torso, and his legs. One of his feet sent flares of pain shooting up his leg when he rested his weight on it, and he felt a little dizzy, the air too stuffy, too hot, but overall…

Freedom, _revenge_ , was in front of him. He felt horrible, looked horrible, but he would walk out of this prison with a straight back and his head held high even if it cost him his last breath. He would be damned if they saw the extent of the damage they had dealt.

“Let’s go, then,” Jaehwan said. His smile reminded Taekwoon of a wolf. A big wolf that would sink its claws into its prey and viciously tear it apart. This man was a god, Taekwoon kept reminding himself. A god whose reputation preceded him. He was a ruler, a king amongst gods, and for all his generosity to those who earned it, it was his wrath he was recognised for.

It made sense now. A god could do this. A god could appear before Taekwoon without touching the door and a god could unlock the shackles without a key. Only a god commanding a force stronger than anything else, who, if he so pleased, could move mountains with nothing else but his will, and perhaps a flick of his wrist for dramatics.

But what did a god want with Taekwoon? Taekwoon had stopped praying to any of the gods when they showed just how little they cared about him, when his pleas had gone ignored. Only his captors had heard them, and they loved making a game out of how many times they could make him say _please_.

“It’s time to punish them, isn’t it?” Jaehwan’s voice ghosted over Taekwoon’s ear like a lover’s caress. He had inched closer, hands warm on his hips. “For all that they’ve done to you these past months. What they did to your sister.”

Taekwoon’s breath hitched at the mention of Seoyeong, but instead of lingering on the memory, he gave a resolute nod. Jaehwan flicked his hand, and the door swung open, the hinges screeching in protest. It was certain to draw attention, and for a moment Taekwoon was sorely tempted to stay put and never leave this prison cell. But he was no longer in shackles. He was no longer at their mercy. They no longer held his fate in their hands.

“That’s right,” Jaehwan whispered as he led him out of the cell and towards the stairs that would take them to – Taekwoon didn’t know. He didn’t know where he was, wouldn’t be able to point them in the right direction if asked. But he knew those stairs would take them outside, to the sun, to freedom. It would take them to the guards. It would take him to revenge. “Worthless humans. I will kill them all for you, Taekwoon.”

They didn’t make it far up the stairs before two guards appeared at the top. Taekwoon was struck again by a wave of fear, an urge to turn back and scramble into his cell – but Jaehwan only gave them time to widen their eyes before their necks gave a resounding _crack_ and they crumbled to the floor like a sack of potatoes. When Taekwoon passed them with Jaehwan, he felt like he could breathe a little easier.

“Do you know how many they are?” Jaehwan asked as they strode down the hallway.

Taekwoon thought about that. He thought he recognised every face that had come to his cell, and could count at least seven. Seven men who had taken turns to push him around, to kick him and cut him and burn him. Seven men who hadn’t cared about him. It was time they paid. “Seven. Perhaps more.”

“Five left, then,” Jaehwan mused, eyes glinting. “Count the deaths with me.”

Taekwoon nodded, and soon enough they reached a room from which heavenly scents wafted out of – food. It was the kitchen.

“I’ll make sure to feed you, once we leave this place,” Jaehwan murmured as they came to stand before the door. “I’ll bathe you and bring you new clothes to wear. I’ll cut your hair and your nails, and I’ll treat your wounds and every broken bone in your body. But first –”

The door flung open without anyone pushing it, like his cell door had done. And like the guards at the stairs, these people had mere seconds to react before they dropped, wide eyes seeing nothing staring straight ahead, mouths open in a scream that would never make it past their lips.

“That’s three,” said Taekwoon slowly when Jaehwan turned to look expectantly at him. “But I do not know any of them.”

“Ah, staff, then,” Jaehwan hummed, starting for the door across the kitchen from where, if Taekwoon strained his ears, voices could be heard, laughter now and then. “Still five left, then. We will find them.”

Taekwoon followed Jaehwan wordlessly, all the while trying to fight through the sense of detachment that had wrapped around him like a blanket. Through the months, he had relied on it to shield him, this ability to shut down his mind when the captors came to have their fun. It was hard to shake off now. Excitement and satisfaction pricked at his conscious, but every emotion that ran through him was dulled. Everything was a little off. But, gods above, he had forgotten the scents of food rich with spices and flavour, the smell of himself and the mouldy prison clogging his nose. He ached for freedom.

Jaehwan did a number out of shoving the door open without touching it when they reached it, haughtily announcing their presence to the three people inside. They stopped talking at once, looking wide-eyed at Jaehwan and Taekwoon. Jaehwan considered the lot before looking to Taekwoon and wondering aloud, “Do you recognise these faces?”

“All but one.”

“Point him out to me,” Jaehwan said, and Taekwoon did. No sooner had he lifted his hand before the man collapsed, neck twisted around and broken like the rest. It set the remaining pair into motion, and their voices rose, louder than earlier, shouting over each other, demanding to know what was going on and who Jaehwan was, and why he had taken their _little bitch_ – it overwhelmed Taekwoon, their voices merging together to become something incomprehensible.

Jaehwan glanced at him, at his pinched eyebrows, and made a soft sound of – it could have come across as _concern_ , but Taekwoon didn’t think it was. Silence settled over the room, then, and Taekwoon looked up to see the men frozen in their places, blinking confusedly – _fearfully_ – but no sound passed over their lips. Taekwoon didn’t know what Jaehwan had done to them, but they couldn’t move, nor could they speak.

“These people hurt you,” Jaehwan whispered into Taekwoon’s ear. He had moved to stand by Taekwoon’s side, and for a moment, Taekwoon longed for Jaehwan’s heat to wrap around him. He shook the thought away.

Taekwoon swallowed, watching the faces of two of the men who had made these past months a living nightmare. One, in particular, he remembered better than the other, for he had been fond of aggravating healing wounds. Now - they were scared. Now that the tables had turned on them, now that they weren’t all-powerful any longer – they would throw away their loyalty and pride to grovel at Jaehwan’s feet, if he would let them. He could see it in their eyes, their fear of dying. These people were – cowards. Pathetic cowards.

“Kill them,” Taekwoon breathed, drinking in the sight of the horror spreading on their faces at his words. It liberated something in him to be able to say that. To order their deaths. “I don’t care how you do it, I just want them _dead._ ”

Jaehwan was smiling, as though he were pleased with Taekwoon, when he turned his attention back to the men. He probably was, for some reason Taekwoon didn’t feel up to discerning. Jaehwan was offering his help, and Taekwoon would take it, regardless of the demands Jaehwan made of him in the aftermath. They had killed his family – his _sister_. Now was his chance to make them pay. He had the power of a god to carry out his revenge.

The second man remained frozen in place when his comrade was picked from the ground and thrown across the room by a force invisible to the eye. His body smashed against the farthest wall, the grotesque sound of his skull cracking ringing loud and clear. He crumbled to the floor, and didn’t get back up.

Jaehwan watched expressionlessly as the last one was given back his voice and started screaming bloody murder. He tripped over his own feet, but caught himself on the floor with his hands and pushed off, scrambling to get back up. The front of his pants was damp. It seemed he had soiled himself in terror.

Jaehwan waited patiently for him to cross the floor and reach the door opposite the one Taekwoon and Jaehwan had entered through. A shaky hand shot out to touch the handle, Jaehwan giving him a sliver of hope – and then his legs gave way under him and he was thrown away from the door, kicking and screaming.

His screaming cut off before he landed on the floor. He stayed down.

After everything they had done to Taekwoon, to his sister – this was their punishment. They would lay down their life, every single one of them.

“Three left,” Taekwoon said quietly, and Jaehwan hummed, placing two fingers under his chin and coaxing him around to look at him. Jaehwan was still smiling, all soft and gentle, though Taekwoon doubted it would fool anyone. There was something entirely unsettling about Jaehwan’s mere presence. He may not exude anything decidedly godly like a holy glow, but everything about him spoke of power. A frightening power.

“Three left,” Jaehwan echoed. “When we are done here, I’ll see to your fever, as well. You’re burning.”

“After,” Taekwoon said, and Jaehwan huffed out a laugh, his hand coming to rest at the small of Taekwoon’s back.

“After. Three men left. Let’s find them.”

“They might have heard the screams,” Taekwoon murmured.

Jaehwan nodded. “They might, in which case they’ll come running. Let’s go see.”

Out in the hallway, indeed, was a lone guard, who stopped short at the sight of them. Jaehwan, as ruthless as he’d been to the others, soon had the man screaming for mercy, for death – and Taekwoon realised Jaehwan was baiting the last two. If they were here, it was sure to alert them.

The guard’s neck snapped the moment two men rounded the corner right up ahead. His screams cut off, and the men halted, looking perplexedly at the strange man and their slave.

The haze that had blanketed Taekwoon’s mind and emotions vanished like mist for the sun; instead there was only blinding rage and a thirst for revenge. In front of him stood the man who had stolen the air from Seoyeong’s lungs, the life from her eyes, until she was but an empty shell in his brute arms. He had taken his sweet time, revelling in her screams and pleas for mercy. He had kept her as his plaything, fucking her until she ran out of tears, until she fell silent.

Taekwoon had been there when the man killed her. He had raped her before Taekwoon’s eyes, and after he had filled her with his seed, he, with his cock still buried in her, had put his hands on her throat and squeezed, until she went limp. Until she was dead.

Then his attention had truly turned to Taekwoon. One toy was broken, but that didn’t matter when there was another one. The real joy with men, he had hissed into Taekwoon’s ear one time, was that they weren’t delicate small things. Women were fragile birds, ruined beyond repair once he had had them for the first time. A woman’s worth lay in her beauty and her body, and once a man had tainted her, she would be undesirable and useless. There would be little fight left in them, and albeit they still whimpered whenever he was a little rough with them and still cried when he spread their legs and pushed inside, it just wasn’t the same. He tired of them quickly.

But _men_ , he had confided in Taekwoon, were such a _delight_. He could have them one time, fuck them hard and raw, and he could have them a second time, and a third, and a fourth – and still they fought. Their pride took a beating every time he seized their hips and shoved his cock inside, but it was so much more gratifying when they eventually stopped fighting.

Men just were tougher than women, but there was a breaking point for all. And he had so looked forward to finding Taekwoon’s.

Hands fell on his shoulders, not heavy, but there, and he shivered when Jaehwan’s breath flickered over his ear. “What do you want me to do?”

“That man,” Taekwoon said, voice icy, despite the way it shook. He wished it didn’t, standing before the man now, but it was only a brief thought. He lifted a hand to point a damning finger at the man. “He killed her. He almost killed me.”

Jaehwan hummed. “And the other one?”

“I don’t care. Punish him however you see fit. But that man –” Taekwoon sucked in a shaky breath, locking eyes with the man’s shocked gaze. “Please. After everything he has done, I can’t watch him die painlessly. I want him to regret everything he has ever done, to her, and to me, and to everyone else.”

Jaehwan’s warmth left him as he stepped forward. Taekwoon stayed locked in place, arms folded around his midriff as he watched Jaehwan slowly approach the duo; they didn’t seem to be able to move, but they hadn’t lost their voice.

They made sure to use it. Jaehwan wasted little time on the man’s companion, killing him on the spot and kicking away his body as he came to stand before a man reduced to nothing but a pleading, trembling mess. How the man had fallen from grace, how weak he now seemed in front of Taekwoon, after months of power. How quickly he had turned to pleading when he had boasted of men and their pride.

His pleas fell on deaf ears, his screams echoing down the hallway. Taekwoon wasn’t sure what Jaehwan was doing to him, but it didn’t matter, just so long that it was a punishment fit for someone like him. His screaming continued as Jaehwan went behind him, and when he came to a stop, so did the man’s screams. He opened his eyes, finding Taekwoon standing alone a couple of paces away. The fear in his eyes made Taekwoon feel better, lifted a weight from his shoulder.

“You will be punished for your wrongs, and Taekwoon here is your judge,” Jaehwan said, quietly, albeit his words rang clear in the hallway. He didn’t need to raise his voice to be heard. “He asked me not to make it light, and so I shan’t. For your negligence and despicable heart, you will pay.”

It took Jaehwan five minutes to break the man, to have him sobbing at Taekwoon’s feet, voice long gone, bleeding, crawling. Taekwoon kicked him away, and Jaehwan dealt the last blow, smashing the man’s head down against the stone floor. A pool of red already coated the stones.

Quietly, they continued down the hallway, through a door, and another, until they reached the end. Until the last door opened and Taekwoon was greeted by the setting autumn sun. He greedily sucked in a breath of fresh air, filling his lungs, soaking in the warming rays on his skin, the wind tugging at his hair and clothes. His legs gave out, then, but Jaehwan was there to catch him, hoisting him up into his arms.

Taekwoon was tired. He was in pain. And the rush of excitement was quickly giving way to the _chill_ , to the throbbing in his foot, his entire body, the exhaustion in his bones.

“Sleep,” Jaehwan murmured, already moving again. The rocking motions lulled Taekwoon, and he closed his eyes, not bothering to ask where they were going. He didn’t care. He was free.

After months of torture, he was free.

-

Jaehwan didn’t make a habit of meddling with humans and their affairs, but these years he thought they might need a reminder of just who were the temporal rats of this world and as such entirely disposable. _Mortals_. They were forgetting their place, and Jaehwan was nearing the end of his patience, growing tired of their negligence and selfishness.

The early humans had been faithful and treated what the gods gave them with care and respect. Jaehwan didn’t know when that changed, but it was less than a hundred years ago that he noticed the extent of that change.

Some humans were driven by the kindness in their hearts – others, the darkness. However, sometimes kindness led to ruin, the same way darkness became something great. It was all about the grey. There was no black and white, and it was not up to the gods to do away with everyone that edged the darker scale of grey. Humans killed, animals killed, nature killed. There was a natural cycle to things and he couldn’t step in and disrupt it every time something bad loomed in the horizon, foreboding a death tally of many.

The world had to be allowed to take its course. There had to be good people and evil people and everyone in-between. It wouldn’t work any other way.

He had watched the humans slowly steer the world towards corruption. Greed festered in the hearts of people, pushing back kindness and honesty, and darkness became evil. They desired wealth, power, lives. It was always a question of _more_.

When Jaehwan looked over the world these days, all he saw was decay and ruin, a world threatening to crumple as the humans took and took and _took_. If it continued like this, there would eventually be nothing left to give.

Humans turned their backs on their gods. They had to be taught a lesson, and Jaehwan would be the one to do it if someone didn’t soon convince him otherwise.

That task didn’t fall to his brothers and sister, but to the mortals themselves. He would give them one last chance, as a show of goodwill, and to please Hakyeon and Yoojin, and if they failed to meet his expectations, not only he, but every god would turn their backs on them.

Taekwoon would not be the one to convince him. Humans had failed the boy one time too many for him to care about them. He wondered how old he was; he looked between seventeen and eighteen, a young man by human standards. A child in a god’s eyes.

Jaehwan had emptied a manor house of its lordship and his family and their staff – well, most of their staff. He had kept around a few housemaids and a cook for convenience. The rest deserved to rot, so he had sent them on their merry way with no belongings and no coins, nothing to start them off in their new life. The lord and his lady and their two spoiled offspring would have to associate with those less fortunate and learn to fend for themselves, for he dared wager their staff wouldn’t stick around for long when they realised their lord no longer held sway amongst the powerful. His title had been lost with his land, and their memory of what had once been his would start to wane over the coming days, until all that remained was but a faint awareness that he had once been someone with influence and power.

Jaehwan sent the maids to prepare the bathwater and ordered the cook to throw together something light but nutritious that could simmer until they were ready for dinner. They asked no questions about anything that had transpired since Jaehwan set foot in the manor and instead scurried off to carry out his demands. He followed the maids to the bathroom and waited for the tub to be sufficiently filled before he dismissed them with orders to return with a nightgown for Taekwoon and to prepare the master bedroom.

Taekwoon remained unconscious as Jaehwan stripped him and made quick work of the tattered rags, flames from his palms eating them up, before he lowered the human into the steaming water. The maids had added salts and oils to the bathwater, the scents already hanging in their air, pleasantly so. Next to the tub lay folded cloths, and he grabbed one and soaked it. He paused briefly when there were three raps on the door and one of the maids informing him that she would leave the clothes by the door, if that so pleased him. Good.

He considered Taekwoon for a moment. It would probably be easier to wash him – whilst making sure he didn’t drown – if he were to join him in the bath, so that was what he did. He undressed and stepped into the large tub, effortlessly rearranging Taekwoon to lie against his chest, the back of his head resting on his shoulder. The human didn’t react except to make a few small noises, probably from pain. Jaehwan supposed a few of his ribs were bruised, if not broken, but he couldn’t begin to guess what other internal damage the human might have suffered.

It took no time for the bathwater to go from mostly clear to brownish once Jaehwan started scrubbing at Taekwoon’s skin, mindful of his bruises and tender places. Taekwoon would require another bath after this, but that would wait for the morning, where he could do it himself. Jaehwan just wanted most of the grime off for now, and for his hair not to smell like dust and blood.

Jaehwan had gotten a good look at Taekwoon’s starved body after he had stripped him down. His skin was dotted blue and purple and green, in some places almost black, the colours stark against his otherwise pale complexion – flushed as it was, currently, with the fever raging through his body. He would have to look out for signs of sexually transmitted diseases. Those were a nightmare to deal with, and if Taekwoon would die from one in a week or so anyways, Jaehwan didn’t care enough to stay around.

He suspected Taekwoon had a sprained ankle to add to the rather lengthy list of injuries. Recovery would take a while, if he didn’t die from something first, but Jaehwan had faith that he would live. The human was stubborn and spirited, and if he lived still in spite of everything that had been done to him, he would not die now that he was free. Not after all Jaehwan had done for him.

Taekwoon’s dark hair fell into his eyes and reached a little below his ears, and when Jaehwan ran his hand through the strands, he wrinkled his nose at the feeling. He would cut it – and the stubble on his face – tomorrow, so he settled with just washing it this time. Tomorrow; there was a lot to do tomorrow.

When it was time to clean Taekwoon’s private areas, Jaehwan forewent the cloth – he had opted for a new one for Taekwoon’s torso after cleaning his arms and legs – and instead wrapped his palm around Taekwoon’s flaccid cock, stroking slowly in upwards motions. He was a handful, Jaehwan noted, thumbing at the slit before moving to his balls. Absently, he made a mental note to himself to tell Taekwoon to shave.

With his arm around Taekwoon’s waist, he managed to carefully reposition the man a little on his lap, his own cock half-hard against Taekwoon’s backside. He paid it no mind as he ran his hand over Taekwoon’s ass, sliding between his buttocks to finger at his hole. Mindful of the abuse Taekwoon had been through, he slipped a finger inside him, feeling his walls instinctively clench around him. If he were to make an educated guess, he thought Taekwoon might have had a cock inside him not twenty-four hours ago.

It was when he curled the finger inside him that he was rewarded with a tiny whine from Taekwoon, a puff of warm air against his neck. Jaehwan smirked and did it again, but Taekwoon stayed still this time around, so Jaehwan quit teasing and cleaned out Taekwoon with the cooling water.

Once Taekwoon was suitably clean, the bathwater had turned an almost murky brown from all the filth. Disgusting. Jaehwan was a little surprised Taekwoon hadn’t woken up yet, but all the same. It was easier this way.

Clean and dry and dressed in a silken nightgown, Jaehwan carried the human to the master bedroom and tucked him in. Dinner could wait another thirty minutes.

Jaehwan might not be _kind_ like Hakyeon or _sympathetic_ and _forgiving_ like Wonshik, and where certain humans fascinated him, _all_ humans fascinated Hongbin and Yoojin – but Jaehwan wasn’t unkind, nor was he unsympathetic or unforgiving. Jaehwan was firm and just in his dealings with mortals, but he did not take kindly to being mocked by those whose fates he determined. He owed them nothing, whereas they owed him everything.

He was capable of pity, and Taekwoon – was a pitiable man. But he would not rush in and save every mortal he felt a speck of pity for like some dashing knight in a fairy tale. Humans fascinated him like baby animals fascinated children, and he cared for them as a ruler cared for his subjects, but every life was expendable. Humans were temporal, and if a couple of thousands only lived to see their early twenties, well.

Those were the terms of mortality. Death loomed ahead, and no mortal could ever hope to outrun their ending. Delay it, perhaps, but not forever.

Taekwoon was damaged, but after three months of abuse, of being shackled to some miserable wall in a just-as miserable cell, enduring constant ridicule, humiliation, torture, and who knew how many ruthless cocks he’d taken – Jaehwan had witnessed thousands of humans break under nicer conditions, yet Taekwoon remained intact. Bent and trodden, but not snapped.

It mattered little how close he’d been to giving up inside that cell when Jaehwan came for him. He had held on, driven by that spark of flame inside him that his abusers, despite months of trying, hadn’t managed to smother, the hatred in his eyes and the thirst for vengeance against those who had wronged him.

That flame could grow into a raging inferno, and Jaehwan intended to fuel it. He wanted to see Taekwoon at his fiercest, wanted to have him, for Taekwoon to be his.

Time would tell if Taekwoon survived this fever, and then Jaehwan would take it from there. Taekwoon was a damaged human, and what he needed was time to recover, physically just as much as spiritually. Jaehwan had time and patience.

Taekwoon was a beautiful mortal male, battered and bruised and damaged as he was. Jaehwan desired him in his bed for that alone, but unlike _humans_ , he would never have Taekwoon against his will. He wasn’t that vile. Why take with brute force something that would never truly belong to him?

Having something wasn’t the same as owning it. Until Taekwoon willingly gave himself over to Jaehwan, he would never belong to Jaehwan. When he asked for Jaehwan, when he gave in – only then would he be Jaehwan’s. Only then could he have Taekwoon.

Jaehwan would wait.

-

_“If you behave, I might take you to see the bedsheets in my room,” said the man when he pinned Taekwoon to the cold and filthy stone floor of his cell, “and then I might even allow you to sit by my feet at breakfast.” He pulled at Taekwoon’s hair until his neck hurt with the strain, leering down at him. “Wouldn’t you like that, you whore?”_

_Taekwoon was a fast learner. Opening his mouth now would do him more harm than good. He could curse the man seven days to death, or he could play along and say_ yes, please, master _, but it didn’t matter what he said. The man would always decide it was not what he wanted. He sometimes opted to stay quiet, but also this would be the wrong thing to do._

_Taekwoon could never win._

_The man was already pulling Taekwoon’s pants down to his thighs, exposing his backside to the chill air in the cell; struggling only earned him a firm slap on his ass cheek, hard enough to leave behind a mark and a persistent sting. The man liked that. He liked leaving marks, especially those that bled. Taekwoon bit into his arm to muffle a grunt when the man’s hand slapped his other cheek. His hips involuntarily jerked from the hit._

_“Have you healed up nicely since the last time I fucked you?” the man demanded, pushing a finger inside Taekwoon and grunting in satisfaction when he was met with resistance. He struck Taekwoon over the ass again when Taekwoon didn’t answer. “Speak up when I ask you a question!”_

_“No,” Taekwoon said into his arm, earning another slap. It stung. It would sting tomorrow, too._

_“Don’t get sassy with me, boy,” the man warned, retracting his finger. Taekwoon tensed up, knowing it was but a temporary relief. The man’s cock was next, and it was going to be painful, because it had been roughly two days since the man’s last visit, and Taekwoon hadn’t healed up in the aftermath of his_ _crueller than usual handling of Taekwoon, where he hadn’t been satisfied after the first round, or the second, and his hands on Taekwoon’s skin had left in their wake nasty bruises. The man may have asked, but he hardly cared whether Taekwoon had healed or not. In fact, he seemed to like it better when he knew he was going to tear half-healed wounds._

_It wasn’t going to be enjoyable for Taekwoon, who sucked in tiny gasps of air, never enough air, in an attempt to steel himself. The man had one hand on the back of Taekwoon’s head, fisted in his hair and shoving his face against the stone, the other most likely stroking his cock to full hardness._

_“You always scream like a bitch for me, whore,” the man panted, pressing his hips against Taekwoon’s ass – he could feel the blunt tip of his cock against his hole now, and Taekwoon squeezed his eyes shut, his body trembling from tension and dread of the pain that was going to rip through him. “Don’t disappoint me now, boy.”_

_The man pushed in, and Taekwoon screamed._

Taekwoon was still screaming when he jolted awake, struggling with the sheets wrapped around his body like a vicious snake intent on choking him. He swallowed a greedy breath of air as he blinked, and slowly his bedroom came into focus. Not the cell. He wasn’t back in the cell. He hadn’t been in that cell for months. It was over.

His body was clammy with sweat, his nightgown clinging to him, and he kicked away the sheets, focusing on breathing, just breathing, on calming down. It was a dream. A memory, that was all it was. The man was long dead. It was not real.

Not anymore.

Three raps on his door and a timid, “My lord?” startled him. He focused on his breathing again, trying to slow it down, before he gave permission to the maidservant to enter.

The door creaked open, and Hwasa peered inside, wide eyes looking towards Taekwoon in concern. “My lord, are you all right?”

“I’m fine,” he croaked. He shut his eyes, rubbing them with the heels of his hands. “I’m fine. Just – What time is it?”

“It’s seven in the morning, my lord,” the girl said.

“All right.” Another deep breath. He was calming down. “Good. I’m getting up. Prepare some tea, will you?”

“Yes, my lord.” She curtsied and then the door closed behind her, and Taekwoon was alone again. He exhaled, running his hands through his hair, body still thrumming with some leftover agitation. Seven was too goddamn early, but he knew that if he tried to go back to sleep, he would doom himself to a staring-contest with the ceiling, eyes refusing to stay closed. That dream had scared him off.

“A dream, my lord?” a high voice mocked, and Taekwoon nearly bashed his head against the wall behind him from shock. His hand trembled when he lifted an accusatory finger at Jaehwan’s smirking face, the god slouching in one of the chairs near the windows overlooking the garden.

“ _Jaehwan._ ”

Jaehwan tutted, looking away from Taekwoon as he gracefully rose from the chair. His bare feet dragged over the floor as he drew closer, and he came to a slow halt at the edge of the bed, looking down his nose at Taekwoon. His smile was playful, though Taekwoon recognised the dangerous edge beneath it.

Jaehwan supported his weight with his hands on the bed on either side of Taekwoon as he leaned in, until he had coerced Taekwoon onto his back and hovered above him. His breath fanned across Taekwoon’s lips, and when he spoke, his voice was soft as velvet.

“Is that any way to speak to your god, Taekwoon?”

“Fuck you,” Taekwoon said in lieu of a reply. His body trembled and he felt caged in by Jaehwan, but he didn’t push him away. Jaehwan’s close proximity didn’t intimidate him, but that dream had messed something up in him that had lain dormant for months. He felt off.

He had grown accustomed to Jaehwan’s quirks and his moods and knew well how far he could go before Jaehwan exploded. There was a line, and Taekwoon was careful of overstepping it. He had witnessed first-hand what Jaehwan was capable of – and he doubted he had ever seen the true extent of his powers. He wasn’t about to test it. But sometimes he set fire to Jaehwan’s fuse on purpose.

No matter how much he liked to push Jaehwan, however, he understood it was only as far as Jaehwan would allow. Despite how human Jaehwan appeared, Taekwoon could never forget that he was a god, and for that he would probably always fear him a little.

“You’re in that mood, huh,” Jaehwan hummed, moving away from Taekwoon, who released a breath he hadn’t known he’d held. “Was it bad?” he asked as he lowered himself onto the bed. Sitting properly with a straight back and one long leg slung over the other, he was eyeing Taekwoon expectantly.

Taekwoon closed his eyes. “I dreamt of that man, of one of the times he fucked me. Or at least one that reminded me of one of the times.”

“He’s dead,” Jaehwan murmured. Taekwoon didn’t need to open his eyes to know Jaehwan was looking at him; he could feel his stare, pricking at his skin. “It has been a while since your last nightmare.”

Taekwoon curled and uncurled his fists. He felt restless. “I know.”

Jaehwan was quiet for a while, until he asked, patiently, because he knew Taekwoon better than Taekwoon knew himself, “What triggered it?”

“I think I got a lead on the people who killed my parents and sold my sister and me,” Taekwoon murmured. “I met with someone yesterday, before I went to bed.”

Jaehwan raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

Taekwoon wet his lips. “He wouldn’t tell me where I can find them.”

Now Jaehwan was smiling – even if he had already known what Taekwoon wanted him to do the moment Taekwoon started talking. He always knew.

“Loosen his tongue for me,” Taekwoon said, steely eyes meeting Jaehwan’s glinting ones. “Make him talk.”

“Who am I looking for?” Jaehwan purred.

“Kim Sihyeong.”

-

Half a year after Jaehwan had rescued Taekwoon from his abusers, Taekwoon still resided in the manor Jaehwan had emptied for him and looked the part to assume the title as lord of the manor. Jaehwan had gauged his age, then, to be around eighteen years; the months of imprisonment had taken four years from his actual age, making him look scrawnier, younger. Nowadays, he looked just a few years older than twenty-two, which was his actual age.

Taekwoon had put on some weight since then, though he maintained his slender form. His cheeks were fuller, ribs no longer countable beneath Jaehwan’s fingers, thighs thicker and soft – he looked healthy now, with silky, somewhat short black hair falling into his eyes. But no beard. Jaehwan had voiced his opinion about the stubble on Taekwoon’s chin once, and Taekwoon had since made sure to always be clean-shaven.

The same applied to his lower regions.

Taekwoon’s posture was now straight and confident, his strides long and determined, dark eyes sharp and vigilant. The flame Jaehwan had seen those months ago had grown into the inferno, flaring behind Taekwoon’s eyes when Jaehwan backed him against the wall, or pinned him to the bed, or bent him over the table he so often pored over important research at.

Jaehwan had tasted those pouty lips, soft and yielding to him. He had fought Taekwoon into submitting, into baring his neck and spreading his legs and gasping his name like it was the only word he remembered through the pleasure Jaehwan gave him. That, and _please_.

There were some things Taekwoon couldn’t shake from his past, like nightmares and the way he bared his teeth at other men and always kept his distance to people – saying _please_ when Jaehwan fucked him he suspected was another, but Taekwoon’s pleas were like sweet notes of music to Jaehwan’s ears. Taekwoon shouldn’t have to plead anyone for anything, and Jaehwan had helped him break that habit – but beneath Jaehwan, he could beg.

His pleas were for Jaehwan only.

Taekwoon’s temper was like a mid-autumn storm, eyes narrowing into slits when he realised Jaehwan was goading him, until his body was high-strung with equal parts fury, lust, and fear, and he flung himself at Jaehwan, even when it was so painfully obvious who the god here was.

Taekwoon had matured, driven by flames and anger and a promise of vengeance, and he was so _beautiful_. Jaehwan wanted to touch Taekwoon’s fire, wanted to hold it in his hands and cradle it to his chest, keep it stored away forever, only for him to take out and admire.

The man Taekwoon had sent him after, Kim Sihyeong, broke easily under Jaehwan’s treatment, spewing names and titles faster than Jaehwan cared to follow. He grabbed the man by the collar and within the blink of an eye, they stood before Taekwoon. From the sounds of it, the man was emptying his stomach onto the floor, as humans were wont to do after Jaehwan pulled them from one place to another faster than their minds – and guts – could keep up. Jaehwan scoffed derisively and strode towards Taekwoon, who calmly pushed the documents he’d been reading aside.

“I think you will find him much more inclined to talk now,” Jaehwan crooned, halting once by Taekwoon’s side and turning to get a look at their man. Indeed, a pool of vomit was in front of him, as well as drops of blood, and he was shaking like a leaf on his knees, forehead touching the floor in an attempt to appease.

“You know what I want from you,” said Taekwoon coolly, so different from the man Jaehwan had rescued from the prison cell. Jaehwan didn’t bother hiding the smirk that crept onto his face. “Tell me.”

“Y-yes, my l-l-lord,” the man said, and started listing names that Taekwoon wasted no time jotting down onto a fresh parchment. Once the man had no more names to give up – Jaehwan made certain he didn’t try to play games with them with gentle reminders of how he could make him scream – Taekwoon made small enquiries about the persons whose names he’d been given, nodding every now and then and writing down what he deemed significant for his chase.

“Kim Sihyeong,” Taekwoon said, and the man visibly flinched, before nodding and looking up hopefully. “Thank you for your cooperation. You may leave now.”

Kim Sihyeong stumbled to his feet, cradling his arm to his chest, and bowed deeply for Taekwoon, and Jaehwan. “Thank you so much, my l-lord,” he whispered. Jaehwan watched him limp across the floor, opening the door with a shaking hand and bowing one last time in their general direction before disappearing into the hallway. The door closed softly behind him.

Taekwoon’s eyes rested like a predator’s on the parchment in front of him, on the swirly scribbles that made up his handwriting. Jaehwan stole a glance, eyes lingering on the names Taekwoon had highlighted. There were four, and beneath them were at least a dozen more. Jaehwan didn’t bother counting, instead lifting his gaze to Taekwoon, fingers tapping a melody against the mahogany surface.

Taekwoon’s skin looked so good against it.

Jaehwan smiled when he saw Taekwoon’s eyes slowly move to Jaehwan’s fingers, before he raised them to look at Jaehwan, arching a brow in question. Jaehwan’s smile widened, turning crooked.

“Where’s the timid little thing I saved six months ago?” he wondered aloud. The tapping stopped when he reached for Taekwoon’s jaw, pulling him closer. “Is he still in there, or have you shed him entirely?”

Taekwoon met his eyes for but a breath before he tore out of Jaehwan’s grasp, looking back down at the paper before him dismissively. “Find these four. I marked the names –”

“I am the god here, Taekwoon,” Jaehwan cut off, pitching his voice low. One of Taekwoon’s hands clenched into a fist, but he never raised his gaze. Jaehwan knew he was listening. “You should be more careful, giving a god orders. I am not your lapdog.”

Taekwoon stayed still for a few tense moments, and then his head tilted slightly to one side, away from Jaehwan, the very picture of disinterest. He emitted a small lilted hum. “No? You sure make a good impression of one.”

Jaehwan seized his chin in a heartbeat, bending until he was eye to eye with Taekwoon, who stared back in defiance. Jaehwan’s mouth curled. “Do you want to play, Taekwoon?”

Taekwoon’s voice was cold like steel. “I have documents to go through.”

Jaehwan bared his teeth, tightening his hold on Taekwoon. Taekwoon blinked, mouth forming a straight line. Jaehwan longed to kiss him. “Then you shouldn’t provoke me.”

Taekwoon raised a fine brow. “As is most often the case, you initiated it.”

“Perhaps.” Jaehwan closed the distance to get a taste of Taekwoon’s lips, satisfied when Taekwoon put up no fight and yielded to him. He allowed Jaehwan to pry his mouth open, to slip his tongue between Taekwoon’s lips. He was intent on stealing all the air from Taekwoon’s lungs and leave him gasping and aching for more.

Jaehwan released Taekwoon’s chin in favour of his hair, pulling at it and relishing Taekwoon’s little moan. His free hand went to palm at the bulge in Taekwoon’s pants, his cock half-hard beneath the layer of clothing. Taekwoon was struggling, slightly, panting into Jaehwan’s mouth now. He grasped at Jaehwan’s hand, but Jaehwan swatted him away and slipped his hand down Taekwoon’s pants to brush his fingers over Taekwoon’s length.

Taekwoon sunk a little in his chair, legs falling apart for Jaehwan’s wandering hand; he never was quite as unwilling as his words and actions suggested. Jaehwan smiled into their kiss.

He thumbed at the slit, swallowing Taekwoon’s small noises as he wrapped his fingers tightly around him and gave a few firm jerks. Taekwoon’s hips bucked.

Jaehwan fell back, then. He admired the view for a moment as Taekwoon found his bearings, looking up at Jaehwan in bewilderment. His lips looked so inviting, red and plush, cheeks flushed, eyes dark and wide –

They narrowed, and Taekwoon straightened himself. He huffed. “So that’s the game you’re playing.”

Jaehwan ran a finger over Taekwoon’s nape, coaxing a tremor through Taekwoon’s body. He grinned. “The documents are waiting for you, my lord.”

Taekwoon’s ability to rein himself in after Jaehwan purposefully had riled him up was an admirable strength. The outline of his cock strained against his pants, hard and most certainly distracting, but Taekwoon sat with a straight back and looked deceptively bored and unaffected. At least there was still a breathless edge to his voice, and his hair looked a little less neat.

Jaehwan would have loved to carry on until Taekwoon couldn’t stand his teasing anymore and cracked – but he’d wait. It would make it that much sweeter if, when he had Taekwoon again, Taekwoon was verging on desperate, driven several times to the edge only to be brought back without a release. It always was.

Taekwoon tapped a nail against the parchment with the names and looked up briefly at Jaehwan. “Find them.”

Jaehwan inclined his head. “And if I find the one?”

“Bring him here,” Taekwoon said. “I want to watch.”

-

There were two names left for Jaehwan to find out of the four he started out with. One was worthless, a no one in a world of dangerous people, whilst the other at least had valuable information to pass along with Jaehwan, but ultimately was not Taekwoon’s target. The two names left, however, he now knew to be his target and someone else who most definitely had had a hand in the deaths of Taekwoon’s parents and the capture of Taekwoon and his sister.

Taekwoon needed to find them. He was _so close_ to finally getting his revenge. Whatever happened afterwards didn’t matter. Not yet. He could figure that out after those bastards lay dead by his feet.

His revenge was secured. He had a god to help in his quest to avenge his sister and himself, and with Jaehwan by his side and the name of the man who orchestrated this whole plot, it was but a question of _days_ until Taekwoon had what he wanted. Jaehwan would find them both, and he would carry out Taekwoon’s revenge whilst Taekwoon watched. Seven months, and revenge was within his reach.

He cared not that they had killed his parents. Had they done only that, he would have probably thanked them on his knees. His parents had always favoured his sister, which he had never held against her, because it wasn’t her fault that their father beat her useless brother whilst their mother did nothing to stop it.

In his parents’ eyes, he had been nothing more than garbage, an extra mouth to feed that they’d rather be without.

The servants had all acted like they didn’t hear Taekwoon’s cries when his father punished him and his mother belittled him. He was a quick reader, an eager scholar; he had wanted only to please them, and for the first ten years of his life, he had tried so desperately to make them happy, to make them proud. He had just wanted their acknowledgement, a little praise.

He had tried so hard, until he realised they really didn’t love him and that, no matter what he did, they never would. He gave up, then. It earned him more slaps from his mother, cursing his birth and yelling at how useless he was, that he’d forever be a nuisance to them and everyone else who ever bothered with him.

His father had shared her sentiments, dragging Taekwoon off and beating him whenever he put up a fight or refused to clean his room or finish dinner. Doing as he was told was the _least_ he could do, they’d demanded. Embarrassing them in front of their friends and nobles they wanted to impress, anyone, really, always led him to go hungry for a couple of days.

They never allowed his sister around to witness their treatment of him, whether that was out of a wish to maintain her innocent views on a world where a father beat his son for absolutely no reason or something else entirely. It certainly wasn’t guilt. They never regretted what they did to their only son.

As Taekwoon grew older, the one thing that held him back from running away was his sister, and fear – irrational or not – of what could happen if he one day upped and disappeared, leaving Seoyeong alone with their parents. He had feared they would grow restless without someone to push around and would eventually turn to her. Taekwoon had made a vow to himself that no one would ever lay a hand on her, so he had stayed, to make sure it would never come to that.

Seoyeong hadn’t been stupid, as their parents must’ve thought, for them to believe she would never realise what happened behind closed doors. Or maybe they had known she’d find out, eventually, in the way a secret could never stay a secret forever. Taekwoon would never find out if they had tried to feed her lies about him and the reasons they hit him or if she had just never asked.

She first became suspicious when one night she caught sight of the bruises dotting his arm after their father had dragged him off for _a talk_ , and she had quickly directed her suspicion to their parents. Mere days after she witnessed, through the crack of the door, as their father shoved at Taekwoon, landing a fist to the side of his head whilst their mother loudly complained about – whatever she had complained about that evening. Taekwoon couldn’t remember.

Seoyeong was seven years younger than Taekwoon, and she always, once she found out about their parents, made sure to sit down late at night and treat whatever hurt Taekwoon had suffered that day. She had had dreams of growing up and becoming someone who helped those less fortunate; she had talked about this while she treated Taekwoon’s injuries, her smile lighting up the entire room.

His sister had been so kind, so different from their parents, so different from Taekwoon himself, and a selfish part in Taekwoon had never wanted her to find out about the real world. If he could, he would have shielded it from her, would have hidden the bruises on his skin better so that she never found out the truth. He would have protected her better, had he known. He should have run away with her, from their parents and from the future that loomed ahead, the fate that awaited her at just fifteen meagre years of life.

She hadn’t deserved to be dragged off, kicking and screaming for Taekwoon to save her. It had been horrible to watch her helplessly from the side, painful to realise that he was not to be the hero she had grown up believing him to be. He had ended up bound and gagged over someone’s horse, and eventually her screams had quieted down to distressed sniffles.

She hadn’t deserved to go through what she had, after they had been caught. She hadn’t deserved the men’s attention or their hands on her skin, nor had she deserved the words they spat at her as she curled up and cried. They hadn’t dared do more to her, which Taekwoon, at that time, had been grateful for, even when a man or two dragged him away from camp and shoved him to his knees, promising a reward for putting his mouth to _good use_.

He had never gotten any rewards.

Taekwoon had known it didn’t bode well when the men didn’t rape her, because it meant someone had explicitly told them not to. It meant someone already considered her theirs, and it meant someone would have her when they got her. Praying for that someone to be gentle with her had been useless. Instead Taekwoon had prayed to the gods for a chance to escape before they were passed to their _master_ , but that chance never came.

After two weeks in the handlers’ care, they had arrived at the house where the man met them, hungry eyes already undressing his sister as she was shoved into his arms, tied up and gagged. Taekwoon had been handed over to one of the man’s guards, after which a second set of hands had soon been necessary to keep Taekwoon in check as the man fondled his sister’s breasts for everyone to see, to humiliate her. To put her in place right off the bat.

Seoyeong hadn’t deserved any of it. She hadn’t deserved to have that man’s hands on her, hadn’t deserved to lose her virginity to him. She had deserved a good husband, someone whose hands would only ever touch her tenderly. She had deserved beautiful children and a beautiful life.

She hadn’t deserved to die beneath that man, tears springing from her eyes and trickling down her cheeks all up until she drew her last breath.

He didn’t even know what they had done to her body.

Taekwoon sucked in a sharp breath, releasing the fork to clatter onto the nearly full plate. He eyed the food on it, savoury scents filling his nose, but he had lost his appetite.

Seoyeong should have been here with him, smiling and laughing over dinner, calling Taekwoon silly names and enjoying the food. Instead Taekwoon was utterly alone, staring down the table towards the door, where he knew a maidservant stood outside in case he needed anything.

Jaehwan was the only one he had, the only one left in this world he trusted. Jaehwan who didn’t love him, but desired him and got a kick out of riling him up. Jaehwan, who wanted to own Taekwoon, and Taekwoon – who belonged to Jaehwan.

He owed his life to Jaehwan. He owed everything to Jaehwan. Jaehwan was there for him when he needed him, even if it weren’t with soothing words and hugs. Jaehwan had helped him escape from the prison cell, had stayed with him and helped him back up and was now helping him track down those who had wronged him and punishing them for it.

Taekwoon couldn’t deny the kick it gave _him_ when he sent Jaehwan, a god, out on one of his errands. Jaehwan was fierce and temperamental, like Taekwoon, and even if he didn’t love Taekwoon and Taekwoon didn’t love him, he gave Taekwoon pleasure and taught him to not fear people. He fucked Taekwoon sometimes just as roughly as his abusers had, but still it was different. Jaehwan always made sure he was ready, always made sure he had his consent and knew when he had it even when Taekwoon hadn’t explicitly given it to him, and Jaehwan never brought him more pain than he could withstand and wanted.

With Jaehwan, it was always pleasurable. He didn’t ignore Taekwoon’s needs, not unless he was teasing, and even if this weren’t love, his touches and kisses felt more loving than anything Taekwoon had felt on his body. Taekwoon wanted Jaehwan, needed him, lived for the times when Jaehwan would call him _his_ , sear the word into his skin with his lips and fuck him hard until he understood that he would never belong to anyone else.

Not that he had doubted that after the first time he gave himself over to Jaehwan, already months ago.

Taekwoon liked belonging. He didn’t care if Jaehwan loved him, or if he could call Jaehwan _his_ back.

He was content where he was, and that was all he had ever wanted.

-

“Kill him,” Taekwoon’s toneless voice bade. The tension in his shoulders betrayed his emotions, a storm blowing up behind his eyes, but Jaehwan wouldn’t call attention to any of it. Not now.

He smiled, stepping away from Taekwoon and closer to the man in front of them.

“N-no, wait,” the man babbled, words garbled because Jaehwan had broken his nose before bringing him here. He scrambled backwards, away from Jaehwan, who just grinned at him. “D-don’t kill me, p-please!” Jaehwan cracked his knuckles for show, and the man nearly burst into tears. “Please! Have mercy!”

“You are undeserving of mercy,” Taekwoon spat. The man wailed.

“I was just doing my job!” he cried. “You must understand! I just did what I was told to do!”

“Despicable,” Taekwoon growled, and Jaehwan hummed his agreement. The man opened his mouth to stall further, but he cut himself off with a scream and crumpled to the floor, cradling the wrist Jaehwan had just broken and whimpering.

Jaehwan sank into a crouch by the man’s side, patting his cheek condescendingly. The man shook, eyeing Jaehwan warily. “You dare beg for your worthless life,” Jaehwan murmured, breaths brushing over the man’s ear as he talked, “yet _forget_ to address your lord by his rightful title, like an insolent child. Why would you not address him appropriately?”

“M-my lord!” the man wailed, turning to Taekwoon with new hope in his eyes. Jaehwan held back a snort. _Pathetic_. “My l-lord, I’m so s-sorry, I swear! I apologise! If I’d known –”

“Jaehwan,” said Taekwoon softly. When Jaehwan met his eyes, there was nothing soft in them. “I tire of his voice. Shut him up.”

The man aimed a kick to Jaehwan’s shin. Jaehwan stared at him unflinchingly, the man looking up at him with wild eyes. He was probably beyond rational thinking, now, but Jaehwan still locked him in place with his will and said, lowly, “One thing is showing blatant disregard to your lord’s title and treating him like dirt, even as you try to plead for mercy. Another is daring to kick one of your gods.”

The man whimpered, and Jaehwan lit up in a dark smile. “But don’t worry. If you don’t like us, we won’t bother with you.”

Jaehwan remembered Taekwoon’s order to shut the man up, so he grabbed the handle of the knife the man had brandished upon arrival, which he had quickly realised was a foolish move when Jaehwan had snatched it from his grasp. He seized the man’s jaw, not minding in the least his terrified whimpers when he pulled out his tongue and cut it clean off.

Tears leaked into the man’s hairline, sobbing pitifully beneath Jaehwan’s binding will as he choked on his own blood. Jaehwan smiled and threw away the knife, clattering against the floor a good distance away.

He was aware of Taekwoon watching him as he took his time tearing apart the man at his feet, making him forget everything but the pain. And when he deemed it enough, he mercifully snapped the man’s neck and allowed death to take him from there on.

Taekwoon was thrumming in his seat, hands fisted on the table. His mouth was a flat line, but there was something in his eyes, a mix of anger and elation, that Jaehwan rarely saw.

“He was the last one,” Taekwoon said, in a tone that suggested he didn’t quite believe it yet. “I did it. I got my revenge. I avenged Seoyeong. I _did_ it.”

Jaehwan slowly crossed the floor towards him, and Taekwoon eyes sought out his. “What do I do now, Jaehwan?”

Jaehwan smiled as he came to a stop by Taekwoon’s side. He shrugged one shoulder, tracing Taekwoon’s cheekbone with a finger. “That’s entirely up to you. You got your revenge.”

Taekwoon sucked in a shaky breath, eyes slipping shut. They snapped open seconds later. “I can’t stop. I may have taken out this bastard and the other one, but there are more. There are always more. Someone will take his place when he doesn’t return, and they will continue undeterred, stealing children from their homes and selling them to the highest bidder –”

“Ssh,” Jaehwan soothed, brushing his thumb across Taekwoon’s lips. They parted for him. “If you want to continue your hunt on those people, that’s what we’ll do. We have time. I will help you.”

“Good,” Taekwoon breathed, eyes following Jaehwan’s hand as it trailed downwards, fingers splaying across his stomach. He sighed, tipping his head back and baring his throat for Jaehwan. “Good.”

Jaehwan took the invitation to kiss along Taekwoon’s throat, licking at his Adam’s apple and biting down softly. Taekwoon’s hands wound around Jaehwan’s neck, holding just a little tighter than necessary, and Jaehwan grinned against Taekwoon’s throat. Taekwoon was going to fight him for this, goaded by the days of careful needling Jaehwan had dragged him through. He did so enjoy stringing Taekwoon along with his hands and choice words, and then watch him try to put himself back together when Jaehwan suddenly drew back, even as the look in his eyes scorched Jaehwan’s very soul.

When Taekwoon sank his teeth into Jaehwan’s neck, he didn’t care if he broke through skin and drew blood. Jaehwan caught Taekwoon’s wrists and pulled him to his feet none too gently, manhandling him until he reluctantly released Jaehwan’s neck and licked at the wound. Taekwoon put up a struggle when Jaehwan transferred his wrists to one hand, but against Jaehwan’s divine strength he was no match; besides, Taekwoon may have put on weight since his imprisonment, but his wrists remained bony. They were laughably easy to restrain.

Jaehwan dragged him to the bedroom without encountering any staff and utterly uncaring for how he kicked and thrashed on the way, though he refrained from yelling to avoid alerting the staff. They knew more about Jaehwan and Taekwoon’s relationship than necessary, and Taekwoon saw no reason to distress them further. Everyone in his household was carefully handpicked by Taekwoon and Jaehwan together, which guaranteed loyal folks prepared to put up with a great deal more secrecy and a willingness to turn a deaf ear and blind eyes to what happened inside Taekwoon’s chambers, whether those activities were of carnal nature or torture.

Taekwoon wasn’t socially adept and disliked people at large, but he cared for his staff and wished them the best. He wished anyone who deserved it the best. As it was, not many did.

The door had hardly closed behind them before Jaehwan shoved Taekwoon against the wall, pinning his wrists above his head. Taekwoon growled at the smile Jaehwan wore as he nudged a knee in between Taekwoon’s legs, moving it upwards to apply pressure to his crotch.

“You’re already getting hard,” Jaehwan hummed, and laughed when Taekwoon made a truly commendable effort to break free. Jaehwan closed in on him, pressing his body against Taekwoon and giving him less room to thrash. He pushed his face against Taekwoon’s neck, inhaling his scent. It was heady.

“I do so love it when you refuse to make this easy for me,” he breathed. “Put up a good fight for me, yeah? See if you can finally overpower me. I dare you to try.” He nosed at the area just below Taekwoon’s ear, humming. “If you fail, I’m going to take you right here, against the wall.”

“Fuck you,” Taekwoon panted, circling his hips and strangling a moan when the motion caused Jaehwan’s cock to rub against his own. He made another admirable attempt to free his wrists from Jaehwan’s iron grip, thrashing and pulling at his arms. Jaehwan didn’t doubt for a second that this would leave bruises the shape of his fingers around Taekwoon’s wrists, but Taekwoon never complained, so Jaehwan never stopped.

Taekwoon knew he didn’t stand a chance, so he gave it his all, aware that whatever he did wouldn’t hurt Jaehwan for long before his status as god did away with it. His nails frequently left in their wake long lines of red down Jaehwan’s back or arms or legs, but they healed within minutes, as did the bruises he bit into his skin and the pain left behind from his thrashing limbs. He fought tooth and nail whilst Jaehwan lapped at the sweat gathering on Taekwoon’s forehead and his collarbone, pressing kisses to his skin and going on an adventure to discover Taekwoon’s body with his hand, though there wasn’t a place he had yet to map out.

“Fuck you,” Taekwoon repeated, heatedly, when Jaehwan slipped his hand between his legs. He was panting heavily, more or less pliant in Jaehwan’s hold, which was why Jaehwan opted to caress Taekwoon’s thighs nonchalantly. “ _Fuck you_.”

“You’re getting weaker,” Jaehwan murmured, starting to undo the buttons of Taekwoon’s pants. Taekwoon resumed struggling, but Jaehwan held him fast against the wall as he managed to untie his pants and pull them down with his underwear to his knees. “Are you really that eager for me to fuck you?”

Taekwoon squeezed his legs together to try to stop Jaehwan from slipping his hand between them now that he was naked from his waist and down, but, really, it helped little, and Jaehwan eventually got his hand far enough to prod at Taekwoon’s hole. Taekwoon bit down a whimper at that, and struggled again when Jaehwan slipped a finger inside him. He pressed closer, feeling Taekwoon’s cock against his stomach, and Taekwoon’s head fell back against the wall, eyes slipping closed as he panted.

“Tell me,” Jaehwan whispered, retracting his finger to rub Taekwoon’s thighs, soft and pale and perfect; Taekwoon’s legs had parted, just a little, while Jaehwan had fingered him, allowing for easier access. His pants had dropped to pool around his ankles. “Do you want to stand like this when I take you, or would you rather face the wall?”

Taekwoon’s answer was a low growl, which didn’t really count for an answer at all. Jaehwan huffed amusedly. “Not quite beaten into submission yet, are you? Well, better take care of that.”

It was easy to wrap an arm around Taekwoon and twist him around until he stood with his front against the wall. It was less easy to keep Taekwoon in place as he patted his buttocks, firm yet fleshy enough for Jaehwan to grab a handful and squeeze, revelling in the little noise that escaped Taekwoon’s mouth. He worked a finger back into Taekwoon and pressed closer, breathing heavily against Taekwoon’s neck.

“Do you like it?” he asked, flicking his tongue across Taekwoon’s ear. “Do you want me to add another?”

“ _No_ ,” Taekwoon whimpered, though his half-hearted wriggling screamed _yes_. Jaehwan generously complied and slipped in another finger alongside the first, grinning into Taekwoon’s neck when he moaned.

Jaehwan released Taekwoon’s wrists only for his will to take over, keeping Taekwoon’s arms raised above his head as Jaehwan sank to his knees. He had needed his hand temporarily free in order to part Taekwoon’s buttocks with his fingers and keep them opened so that Jaehwan could get a good look at the tiny ring of muscles, clenched so wonderfully tight around his fingers.

Taekwoon stilled completely when Jaehwan’s tongue darted out to lick a wet stripe from his tailbone to his hole, and he shuddered when Jaehwan pushed it in alongside his fingers, as deep as it could go. Taekwoon quivered beneath him, his moans going high and tiny, legs probably struggling to keep him standing. Jaehwan knew it sent white-hot pleasure shooting up Taekwoon’s spine when he put his mouth to his ass and licked into him, so he made sure to put that knowledge to good use.

He prepared Taekwoon for a third finger, continuously thrusting his tongue into him and using it to keep him wet as he stretched him with his fingers, altering between a swift thrusting pace and wriggling them. Taekwoon had all but ceased his thrashing, standing stock-still and panting; his voice merged well with the squelching noises of Jaehwan’s tongue and fingers in Taekwoon’s asshole.

It didn’t take long before Jaehwan lined up a third finger and pushed it inside with the others. Taekwoon grunted, sucking in a sharp breath when Jaehwan’s tongue worked its way into him, as well. Jaehwan intended to get to the best part, though, so he kept at it for another minute before he spat at his fingers and shoved them back inside. He straightened, releasing Taekwoon’s buttocks to swiftly undo his own pants and pull out his cock, hard and aching to be buried inside Taekwoon’s heat.

He stroked himself lazily as he hooked his chin over Taekwoon’s shoulder, smiling serenely at Taekwoon, who looked back through half-lidded eyes. Sweat clung to his hairline; he looked debauched already, and Jaehwan hadn’t even fucked him yet.

Taekwoon winced when he withdrew his fingers and wiped them off in Taekwoon’s shirt, his mouth parting on a pant. Jaehwan landed a kiss on his lips and pressed closer to Taekwoon. The blunt tip of his cock nudged Taekwoon’s hole, and Jaehwan rolled his hips forward a few times, teasing Taekwoon with the pressure, the promise of his cock.

Jaehwan pressed his mouth to Taekwoon’s ear. “You didn’t manage to break free,” he whispered. Taekwoon whimpered, and Jaehwan grinned, lifting the hand not wrapped around his cock to Taekwoon’s wrists. “Do you remember what I would do if you failed?”

It wasn’t always Taekwoon felt up to answering Jaehwan’s taunting questions at a time like this. He knew well that Jaehwan expected an answer, so the reason he wouldn’t comply was a speck of leftover defiance that Jaehwan was more than willing to fuck out of him. It also let Jaehwan know whether Taekwoon was satisfied with the treatment so far or if he wanted more.

When Taekwoon didn’t readily answer, Jaehwan tightened his hold on Taekwoon’s wrists, blunt nails biting into his flesh and pulling a low noise from Taekwoon. “I asked you a question,” he snarled, exhaling into Taekwoon’s ear. “Do you or do you not remember?”

“I remember,” Taekwoon hissed, earning a warning growl from Jaehwan.

“Yes?”

“You said,” Taekwoon panted, staring Jaehwan straight into the eyes, “that you’d take me against the wall.”

Jaehwan smiled darkly. The look in Taekwoon’s eyes, the tone of his voice – it sounded like a challenge. “That I will.” And then he took his cock in a sure grip and pushed forward, sheathing himself as deep as he could inside Taekwoon’s warmth in one swift push. Taekwoon cried out, hips jolting forward, eyes squeezing shut.

Jaehwan didn’t allow him time to adjust, instead setting a rapid pace, going hard and deep each time. Whimpers and other high noises fell generously from Taekwoon’s lips, and Jaehwan grunted, surging forward to catch that plush mouth of his. Taekwoon moaned throatily and Jaehwan dutifully swallowed it, pitching his hips into Taekwoon’s and relishing the way Taekwoon clenched around him, his tight heat sucking him in.

He wanted to have a clear view of Taekwoon’s face, however, and he deliberated his options for a moment before he slipped his cock out of Taekwoon and spun him around so that they were face to face. Taekwoon blinked, mouth falling open, and Jaehwan couldn’t hold back from kissing him, so he did. He nudged Taekwoon’s legs apart, slipping his hand between them to get a good grip on one of his thighs. Taekwoon got the gist, lifting his leg to hook it around Jaehwan’s waist and whining needily.

Jaehwan pushed back inside Taekwoon with a grunt. He seized Taekwoon’s leg, then, hooking his arm under his knee and lifting it, as high as it could go as he resumed a fast and hard pace.

“How’s that, _my lord_?” he grunted. When Taekwoon’s mouth opened to reply, Jaehwan’s cock hit him in just the right place and he writhed, his answer turning into a broken gasp.

“Good – good, _please_ ,” he said, and Jaehwan, delighted with the plea, aimed for that spot again, revelling in Taekwoon’s high whines. He released Taekwoon’s wrists, his will keeping them in place once more, to spit into his palm before wrapping it tightly around Taekwoon’s weeping cock, so perfectly hard and veiny in his grasp.

Jaehwan had had it inside him, and he _loved_ the feeling. But he loved fucking Taekwoon just a little bit more.

He jerked Taekwoon off, swift and tight, whispering nonsense into Taekwoon’s ear as he fucked him viciously, whimpers and whines falling from Taekwoon’s mouth like raindrops during a downpour.

“You are mine, Taekwoon,” he snarled, digging bruises into Taekwoon’s soft flesh. “ _Mine_.”

With a shout, Taekwoon came all over Jaehwan’s hand and his shirt and the floor. Jaehwan grinned to himself; as much as it satisfied him to know he owned Taekwoon, Taekwoon loved being owned by him, and only him. It made owning him that much sweeter.

Jaehwan focused on his own building orgasm, fucking Taekwoon hard through his pleasure and past it, until Taekwoon started whining; he hadn’t let go of Taekwoon’s cock, flaccid after his release, yet stroking it in time with his thrusts. Taekwoon couldn’t do anything but take it.

The orgasm ripped through Jaehwan, and he came inside Taekwoon, fucking deliriously through the waves of pleasure. He slowed down to a halt only when the haze started dissipating.

He hummed, releasing Taekwoon from his will and reaching out to steady him when he stumbled. “Mine,” Jaehwan mumbled when he had made sure Taekwoon’s legs wouldn’t give way under him, pulling his softening cock out of Taekwoon.

Taekwoon watched him quietly, looking a little dazed still, as Jaehwan started undressing, pulling down his pants and shrugging off his shirt. When he stood naked as day, he helped Taekwoon out of his own garments, until he, too, stood bare before Jaehwan, collarbone and face flushed from sex, skin covered by a thin sheen of sweat. He looked delectable. Jaehwan licked his lips as he took Taekwoon to bed.

He wrapped his arms around Taekwoon’s torso, pulling until the space between them was no more and shifting them until they lay on their sides. With one arm pinned beneath Taekwoon’s weight, he had one hand left to slide down Taekwoon’s back until he arrived to his own cock, pressed against Taekwoon’s backside and growing harder by the second.

Taekwoon shifted slightly when he felt Jaehwan wrap his hand around his cock, stroking it back to full hardness. Taekwoon emitted a high noise, curling up and reaching behind himself to blindly swat at Jaehwan. Jaehwan pressed his grin against Taekwoon’s nape, lining up his cock and pushing it slowly back inside Taekwoon.

“Jaehwan,” he whimpered, but Jaehwan shushed him. “ _No_ , Jaehwan, no – I’m still –”

“Ssh,” Jaehwan whispered, sighing contentedly once he was fully sheathed inside Taekwoon again, Taekwoon’s walls clenching around him uncontrollably. “You can take it.”

“No, _Jaehwan_ –”

Jaehwan wrapped his hand around Taekwoon’s soft cock as he started moving, thrusting languidly for now. Taekwoon had slipped into whimpered pleas, begging him to stop, but Jaehwan didn’t listen, instead starting to stroke Taekwoon’s sensitive cock.

“I know you can take it,” he said, wrapping his arm tighter around Taekwoon as he increased the pace of his thrusts. “You always take it so well.”

“Jaehwan, Jaehwan, _Jaehwan_ ,” Taekwoon gasped, writhing in Jaehwan’s hold and gasping, hands grasping the sheets desperately as Jaehwan fucked into him, pace back to being hard and thorough, filling Taekwoon to the brim each time. He made sure to aim for Taekwoon’s spot every other trust or so.

Jaehwan muffled his pants against Taekwoon’s shoulder, jerking off Taekwoon hard and fast and feeling him grow in his grasp. Taekwoon’s breathing was harsh and shallow, sweat forming rapidly between their heated bodies.

“Beautiful,” Jaehwan moaned, once Taekwoon was fully hard again and gasping at every thrust of Jaehwan’s cock. “I knew you could take it, didn’t I? You take my cock so well. Do you want to really feel it?”

Taekwoon nodded, speech beyond him at this point, so Jaehwan turned them around until Taekwoon was on his back, Jaehwan hovering above him. He grasped Taekwoon’s legs and hooked his knees over his shoulders, leaning as far down as he could come – so damn _flexible_ ; Jaehwan absolutely loved it – and staying there as he breached Taekwoon again, pulling a moan from both of them.

The pace he set then was brutal, deep and hard, Taekwoon’s legs dangling against his back as he fucked him. Taekwoon was keening, writhing, begging for nothing, anything, everything – Jaehwan couldn’t make sense of his words, so he continued fucking him, penetrating him again and again until finally, Taekwoon came for a second time, cock sputtering his semen across both of their stomachs. Jaehwan groaned as Taekwoon clenched around him, and he tumbled over the edge together with Taekwoon, spilling his load inside his human again.

Taekwoon looked utterly fucked out and on the cusp of sleep, chest heaving irregularly with his breaths. Jaehwan leaned down to plant a languid kiss on his lips, and Taekwoon moaned softly, blinking up at him tiredly.

Jaehwan once again positioned them on their sides, arms wrapped around Taekwoon, cock still buried deep inside Taekwoon. Taekwoon emitted low noises every time Jaehwan moved his hips just a little; Jaehwan looked forward to falling asleep like this. He liked falling asleep whilst still inside Taekwoon, despite the icky feeling he’d wake up to tomorrow.

But that was for tomorrow. Taekwoon, despite Jaehwan’s teasing and moving around, was already half-asleep, and Jaehwan, honestly, was not far behind him.

Perhaps, come morning, he would have Taekwoon again.

-

Taekwoon often wondered what it was about him that had made Jaehwan, a god, come to his rescue. He had stopped wondering why he hadn’t come _sooner_ , before Seoyeong had died, because there was no changing the past.

Taekwoon was no one special.

He had grown up in a well-off family in home just a little smaller than the manor he resided in now, years later. He was educated, could read and write. But he wasn’t particularly clever. He had never been loved by anyone except his sister, and on his worst days he sometimes doubted even she had truly loved him.

He had been caught and sold to a man whose men dragged him into a living nightmare, fists raining down on him and making him bleed. They had laughed into his face when he cried, when he screamed, when he didn’t say anything at all.

When the man had tired of his sister and killed her, he had come for Taekwoon. He had been humiliated, beaten, and raped by that man, brought to tears, his voice hoarse from endless screaming. He had been on the edge of letting go, giving in to the insanity that lurked around his mind, had practically begged for death.

He had escaped, but not by himself. He had suffered from nightmares and a bad habit of kneeling for everyone who spared him a glance. He hated other humans for what they had done to him.

He had avenged his sister’s death, and his own near-demise, with a god’s help.

Taekwoon really was no one special. So why had a god taken an interest in him and offered his services?

It hadn’t taken long for him to realise that Jaehwan hated humans as much as Taekwoon. They hated the same kind of people, those who deserved an early death for the wrong they had done. Or, better, a long life with adversity in a world devoid of mercy and love.

Jaehwan was a god intent on determining the fate of millions. Taekwoon doubted his months amongst mortals had made him any less determined to forsake humans for a little while.

Jaehwan had said he liked Taekwoon for his fire, his spirit, his body, and his mind. But it wasn’t love. Taekwoon was used to not being loved, so that was all right. He didn’t need love in his life. He just wanted to not be unhappy.

His purpose in life felt fulfilled, now. He had gotten his revenge, the one thing that had driven him for seven months. To find a new purpose – that was where he struggled, to tell the truth. Three months later, and he was still undecided. For now, bringing justice to those who deserved punishment had to suffice. That was good enough for him until he determined that would be his purpose, or until he found another one.

When there were three raps on the door, Taekwoon called for whomever to enter without looking up from his book. It had been a long time since he had felt he had time and the peace of mind to enjoy a book, so he had found the most interesting-looking one on one of the shelves and sat down with it.

“Would you like dinner served, my lord?” his housemaid’s voice floated through, and he looked up shortly to give her a wan smile. Hwasa was a kind young woman. She reminded him a little of Seoyeong, sometimes.

“No,” he said. “Not yet. I will have some later. But could you prepare some tea and bring it to me?”

Hwasa curtsied and smiled at him. “Of course, my lord. I will be right up with it, my lord.” She closed the door behind her, leaving Taekwoon in silence once more. He turned a page in his book and went back to reading.

He didn’t know how much later it was when he put his book away and rose from his plush chair, stretching his limbs. It had gotten gloomier outside, dusk approaching with fast steps, and his stomach was grumbling for food. He frowned. Had Hwasa forgotten his tea? She had never come up with a cup to him.

He looked at the windows, falling into a lull as he watched the trees sway in the gentle winds, the shadows growing longer as he stood there. His stomach eventually reminded him of his hunger, so he shook himself out of it and started for the door. He would go downstairs and look into the kitchen to see if the cook were busy. Perhaps he would find Hwasa on his way.

It had happened before that she had taken a prolonged time to fetch something for him, and she always apologised profusely when she showed up. Taekwoon always waved it off with an assurance that it was all right. He wouldn’t fault her or punish her for dropping a plate or tripping or being otherwise distracted. However, it _was_ a first for her to take this long.

Taekwoon thought it might have been at least an hour, which was pushing it, but something could have happened, he guessed. It was fine. Not getting his tea wouldn’t ruin his day, so if he had to skip it tonight, then so be it. He just hoped he wouldn’t have to wait for too long before the cook had dinner for him.

He entered the Hall and came to a slow halt, eyes narrowing at the sight of – Kim Sihyeong, if his memory served him right. It had to be. The man looked like he really didn’t want to be here, refusing to meet Taekwoon’s eyes and shaking where he stood, which was odd. There was no reason for Kim Sihyeong to be here.

Taekwoon touched the handle of the dagger, a gift from Jaehwan long ago that he made sure was always tied around his midriff, ready to pull it from its sheath should the situation turn dangerous. He felt a little safer, a little surer of himself with a weapon. This was his home. Jaehwan had given this man a lesson for life. Taekwoon had no reason to be afraid.

He tilted his head, considering the man in front of him coolly. “You have entered my home without my permission. State your business or scram.”

Kim Sihyeong was shaking even worse now, and when he spoke, his voice was almost inaudible, “W-where is… t-that man?” He swallowed. “The one who b-broke my – arm.”

Taekwoon frowned in confusion. Why would Kim Sihyeong be looking for Jaehwan? “What?”

He heard it too late, the footsteps coming up behind him. His dagger was wrenched from his grasp and he cried out in pain and surprise, spinning around to try to get a look at his assailant and to fight back. But before he saw more than dark hair and mean eyes, he was grabbed, an arm winding around his waist, his own dagger digging into his side. Not enough to break skin, but enough to be a threat. A warning.

There were too few lit torches in the room. How hadn’t he noticed the significantly dimmed lighting? Kim Sihyeong was still standing a little ways off, trembling and wide-eyed. Taekwoon would kill him, that bastard.

“That man,” his assailant purred, pulling Taekwoon into his chest. “Your feisty guardian, the one who scared this freak –” the dagger disappeared from his side briefly to point Kim Sihyeong out, who flinched and fell back two steps, “– so much that he now turns into a scared mouse every time something startles him. _That_ man. Where is he?”

Taekwoon bared his teeth. Jaehwan came and went as he pleased, and today he hadn’t been back since morning. “I don’t know.”

“No?” The man raised a brow. “I guess that will suffice. He isn’t coming back anytime soon, is he?”

“Who are you?” Taekwoon opted to ask instead. This earned him a shallow slash from the dagger, down his arm. He swallowed a hiss and schooled his features into nonchalance.

“Didn’t Haechul teach you to answer when someone asked you a questioned?” the man demanded. His grin made Taekwoon sick to his stomach, the words filling him with dread. His mask threatened to crack. “Or was he too busy fucking you? Are you really that good a fuck? Did Haechul’s men fuck you, too? What a whore.”

Taekwoon froze. “What?”

The man tutted. Taekwoon had little time to react before he was spun around and a palm hit his cheek with enough force to send him tumbling to the floor. He lifted a shaky – _not shaky, not shaky, rein it in_ – hand to his cheek, already burning from the slap. He fought down the urge to curl up, to make himself smaller, the way he always used to do.

“You forgot his lessons already, boy?” the man sneered. Taekwoon almost flinched from his tone. How did this man know all of this? How did he know – that man? Haechul? Was his name Haechul? Taekwoon had never bothered remembering their names. “Everything is coming together now, slowly. I saw you, you know? I saw you in your cell.”

Taekwoon knew he should get up. He should – probably not fight. He was smarter than to believe he would ever win a fight. He should run, but he couldn’t move. He couldn’t even lift his gaze from the man’s shoes, and he hated himself for it.

This man had seen him in his cell?

“You looked pathetic in there,” the man mocked. Taekwoon worried at his lips until he tasted iron. “Filthy and used. You may not look like it now, but you’re still pathetic, aren’t you? I don’t know what that bodyguard of yours sees in you, for him to somehow break you out and install you in a manor like this, but – I see now that it is all an illusion. When faced with your past, you revert back to that trembling little thing in his cell.”

Who was this man? Why was he here? What did he want?

Taekwoon had to _get away_.

“Where is Hwasa?” it suddenly occurred to him to ask. “Where is my staff?” he demanded, looking up. Not quite meeting the man’s eyes, but – his nose. His nose was all right. It was good enough. He had to escape.

The man was smiling, looking terribly amused with Taekwoon. “They’re being taken care of.” His voice turned saccharine when he crouched before Taekwoon and said, “Don’t worry. We have no use of them, so they will be free to go when we’re done with you. That maidservant of yours – Hwasa, was it? I can’t say the same for her, I’m afraid. I think one of the men took a liking to her.”

Taekwoon lunged, chest exploding with elation when he landed a fist right in the man’s face, sending him scrambling backwards with heavy cursing and shouting. Taekwoon was up and running before the man, a frosty glare freezing Kim Sihyeong to his spot as he rushed past him.

He had to get out. He had to get away, or he would be at that man’s mercy until Jaehwan showed up, if he ever did. Taekwoon could be dead before he appeared, and Jaehwan would look at him, shrug, and continue his immortal life like nothing had happened. Mortal lives meant nothing to a god.

There were others. The man had said so himself. Fear crawled up Taekwoon’s throat, but he swallowed it down and focused on reaching the door to the kitchens before that man could stop him, before he could be dragged back –

The door opened, and he ran straight into a wide chest. Hands caught him, and held fast, and a single whiff of the man’s odour had Taekwoon’s survival instinct kicking in. This wasn’t Jaehwan. This was one of the other men. Oh, gods above, how many were they?

Taekwoon screamed, lashing out at the newcomer’s arms and kicking and biting, but before he could break free, another set of hands fell on his shoulders, and he was suffocating. This sent him right back to when he had been brought to that man – _Haechul’s_ doorstep. He wouldn’t win.

He could never win, could he?

He was turned around just in time to see that man stalking towards him, face a bloody mess yet conveying his anger perfectly, before Taekwoon got a punch to the gut, sucking all their air out from his lungs and making him curl up in his captors’ hold. He couldn’t breathe.

“You fucking _whore_ ,” the man roared, seizing the collar of Taekwoon’s shirt and pulling him into his face. “You want a fight, do you? I’ll fucking beat you until you beg me to stop. And then –” His grin turned dangerous, and his free hand fell to Taekwoon’s crotch, grabbing Taekwoon’s cock through his pants. He spat blood into Taekwoon’s face, shoving him back into the two others.

“When you want to die,” he sneered, “when you beg me to kill you, I’ll shove you down and fuck that ass of yours, see if Haechul’s toy is as good as he seemed to think you were, for him to have kept you in a cage for months just so that he could fuck you whenever he damn pleased.”

Taekwoon thrashed in his captors’ hold, but he suspected each of them was stronger than him alone. He didn’t even know if these three were all of them, or of there were more. He tried not to pay any heed to what the man was saying, but every word he spat hit him like a fist to the gut. The memories he had long repressed fought to resurface, and he fought harder to keep them at bay.

“And when I’ve fucked you until your ass bleeds,” the man continued mercilessly, “you’ll be passed around for all of my men to try, because that’s what whores like you do, right? You put up your ass for everyone who wants you.”

Taekwoon couldn’t hold back the whimper when the man seized his wrist. “First lesson,” the man said, deceptively gently as he looked Taekwoon straight into the eyes. “You fucking answer when I ask you a fucking question.”

Taekwoon started screaming when the man squeezed his wrist and twisted it, putting enough force into it that Taekwoon feared it would actually break. Before it could come to that, however, his wrist was released and he was shoved to the floor. He instinctively managed to not break the fall with his throbbing wrist, but instead his shoulder, which _hurt_.

Someone grabbed him by the foot and started dragging him back into the room, away from the door. It was one of the other men, and Taekwoon’s nails were useless against the floor. There was nothing for him to latch onto, though he flailed and clawed all the same, terror welling in his throat.

He was dropped in the middle of the room, and when he looked around, he wanted to cry. There were – six men, seven with Kim Sihyeong, but he had backed into a corner and didn’t seem willing to join the rest.

That man grinned when Taekwoon’s gaze fell on him, at last. He cracked his knuckles before reaching for the dagger he had tied to his belt. Taekwoon absently wondered where his own had ended up, but the man had stepped forwards and was falling into a crouch before him. All thoughts of his own dagger vanished from Taekwoon’s mind, and instead horror crept over him, fear for the next hour, two hours, three – he didn’t know how long he’d be able to endure their torture. He didn’t know how long it would be before he was dead.

Taekwoon looked up at the man’s bloody grin, feeling the fight drain from him faster than it ever had before. There was nothing left for him to do but take their abuse, endure the torture, and close his eyes when they took through brute force what Taekwoon had allowed no one but Jaehwan. Hopefully, by the time they tired of him and left him to bleed out, or already dead, he would have already lost himself to the sweet nothing of oblivion that promised no pain, no memories, no anything.

The blade of the dagger glinted even in the dim lighting, and Taekwoon steeled himself as the man settled the sharp point under his chin and raised his head almost gently.

“Let’s make you bleed, pretty doll.”

-

“This is wrong, Jaehwan.”

Jaehwan scoffed in derision. The frown between Hakyeon’s brows deepened. “No, it’s not. I have walked amongst mortals, Hakyeon, and in those months, I’ve beheld their cruelty and their greed for what isn’t theirs. Our world is riddled by _rats_ that won’t hesitate to bite our hands.”

Hakyeon bristled. “We can’t just turn our backs to them. I understand that something must be done, but this isn’t _right_. We –”

“We owe them nothing,” Jaehwan sneered. “They owe us _everything_ , but how do they thank us? They don’t.”

“And what, exactly,” Hakyeon asked, narrowing his eyes, “have you been _doing_ for these months?”

“He has been with a human,” Hongbin interrupted, folding his arms over his chest and staring Jaehwan down. Jaehwan rolled his eyes at his show of rebelliousness. Hongbin had always been the one he would have to convince the most when it came to the humans. He had been known to have his fascinations, to become invested in one human or another, romantically or not.

“You are free to pick favourites and make life easier for them,” Jaehwan drawled. “I won’t take that away from you. But _you two_ ,” he said, looking to Hongbin and Yoojin, “oh, don’t even get me started. You care too much about their worthless lives, and I won’t let you stand in my way. You can’t protect them all.”

“We knew as gods that they would stray at times,” Hongbin reasoned. “That does not mean they do not need our guidance.”

“They do not listen to our guidance,” Jaehwan insisted. “They would rather guide themselves. So why don’t we let them try, hmm?”

Hongbin’s stance turned defensive, hostile, even. His nostrils flared when he aimed his glare at Jaehwan. “Not everyone deserves –”

“Of course not, but look at Sanghyuk! They have all almost entirely forgotten him,” Jaehwan hissed, throwing out an arm in Sanghyuk’s general direction. The youngest god startled at being put on the spot. He looked up at Jaehwan for a second before averting his eyes, mouth forming a flat line. Jaehwan scowled at the sight; it hurt Sanghyuk, for humans to have forgotten about him. Worthless rats, to cause Sanghyuk to draw into himself like this.

Hongbin didn’t have an immediate answer, eyes darting back and forth between Sanghyuk and Jaehwan. He worried his lips, hesitating with his next words. Everyone knew Jaehwan was right, at least about people disregarding Sanghyuk. They knew it wasn’t acceptable.

“We have done so much for them,” Jaehwan continued, looking at all of them in turn. “It is time they understand they must do something for us in return.” Sanghyuk and Wonshik didn’t meet his eyes, but Hongbin, Hakyeon, and Yoojin did, because they weren’t convinced.

Sanghyuk and Wonshik weren’t convinced either, but Sanghyuk was in a situation where he understood Jaehwan’s reasoning; that, and he wasn’t too fond of humans. Wonshik – Jaehwan wasn’t sure about him. He probably hated that it had come to this and would never choose a side. Wonshik had always hated disputes. He was a pleaser, but he wouldn’t choose between Jaehwan and everyone else, so he wisely held his tongue.

“They are forgetting their place,” Jaehwan spat. “They think they own the world and think only of themselves. They are all corrupt.”

“Jaehwan,” said Yoojin softly. She was always the one to talk him down, but right now, even she couldn’t do that. “We can’t just forsake them. They need our help.”

“They need a _reminder_ ,” Jaehwan said. “A lesson to teach them what happens when they turn their backs to their gods. We have shown them goodwill so far – _I_ have shown them goodwill, but it is _over_. Once they remember their place in this world, and only then, will I consider giving them another chance. And that won’t happen for another century, I assure you.”

Hakyeon looked troubled. Jaehwan was past the point of caring. “I understand your grievance, I do. But listen to yourself. We can’t just…”

“We can,” insisted Jaehwan. “And we will.”

Hongbin and Yoojin exchanged glances, and together they strode for the door – one of them, likely Hongbin, slammed it shut behind them. Wonshik and Sanghyuk were the next to leave, but compared to Yoojin and Hongbin, the door closed softly, Sanghyuk meeting his eyes as he closed the door behind him, sharing a moment of accordance. Left were only Jaehwan and Hakyeon, the two oldest, most powerful gods. A tense silence befell them as they stared at each other.

Hakyeon, more than the others, was bound to see his reasoning in an unbiased way. He was just, in a way that made it hard for him to ignore logical standpoints, and Jaehwan knew he had reached that just part inside of him. He was disappointed, unwilling to act as harshly as Jaehwan was suggesting, but he still saw the need to act. And he knew his other brothers and sister would see it, too, see the call for something more drastic than droughts or storms. No, with time, they would see that the only way was to forsake their humans. Not forever, as he had said, but long enough for them to remember exactly who the gods were in this world, and how very weak they would be without their blessings.

Hakyeon’s face fell, eventually, and he was the first to speak up, ready to try and persuade him. “Jaehwan,” he begged.

But Jaehwan shook his head. “Spare me, Hakyeon. You won’t be able to change my mind. I gave the humans a fair chance, and they failed.”

Hakyeon’s disappointment was almost tangible in the air as he looked sadly at Jaehwan. He sighed and started for the door, leaving without another word.

-

When Jaehwan returned to the manor, appearing in Taekwoon’s study, he was in a sour mood. He didn’t like fighting with his brothers and sister, but disputes between them were inevitable. They were vastly different with conflicting opinions and ideas, tempers ranging from Wonshik’s dislike of confrontations to Hongbin’s cold fury to Jaehwan’s explosive moods.

Jaehwan ruled over them, but he would rather convince them than force their hand. Their disapproval would fade over time, it always did, but Jaehwan wouldn’t like it very much if he were looking forward to decades of being given the cold shoulder by them all.

Taekwoon could distract him from his disagreement with his fellow gods, but Taekwoon wasn’t in his chambers. He could stay around and wait for him, but he wasn’t in the mood for that, so he left the room and made for the kitchens. Taekwoon rarely left his chambers unless it was for a late-night snack and no servants were around to serve him. This could well be one of those times.

He had hardly reached the staircase before a gruff voice he wasn’t familiar with reached his ears and slowed his steps. Curious. He listened with rapt attention, feet falling silently on the floor.

“ _You’re a greedy little bitch, aren’t you, whore?_ ”

Jaehwan’s eyes narrowed, the mocking tone grating on him. The laughter that followed gave away at least two other voices. He figured he wouldn’t like what he would find when he reached the bottom and stood before the open door from where the voices were coming from.

A loud grunt preceded a hard slap, and then more words. “ _Fuck, you really were born to lie down and take it, weren’t you? Haechul wasn’t stupid, after all. He did you a favour, he did, opening everyone’s eyes to your full potential as a bed slave. Shame he died before he taught you obedience._ ”

Jaehwan was nearing the door. He would rip out the man’s throat with his bare hands, he had decided with a sense of detachment he hadn’t felt in a while. It was borne from the fury heating up his blood, he knew.

“Tears pretty up your face, doll.”

Jaehwan came to a halt at the threshold, eyes coolly taking in the scene before him. Blood stained the stones, some splatters dark from time, others bright crimson. Six men with their backs to Jaehwan surrounded Taekwoon and a seventh man on the floor.

Catcalls. Derisive laughter. Rambunctious hooting.

Taekwoon was on his back, naked from the waist and down, his bloody shirt ripped to pathetic shreds that offered a clear view of his torso. Ragged bloodstained threads left behind by a sharp blade wielded by a heartless hand and yellowing bruises left scarcely any skin on his chest untouched. Jaehwan’s eyes lowered to Taekwoon’s thighs, milky white traded for greens, purples, and blues, a scattering of bloody fingerprints. The result of teeth and grabby hands, flesh inflamed from eager mouths. More jagged lines from a blade, blood trickling onto the floor.

“Why are you crying? A good slave doesn’t cry. A good slave takes whatever they’re given and expresses their gratitude no matter what.”

His cock curved against his stomach, just a little to the left, hard and red. Jaehwan released a breath, and looked at his face, cheeks wet with tears, eyes squeezed shut, lips bruised and parted. Blood welled from a wound by his temple, coating his hair and trickling into his eye. His arms, discoloured and bloody, like the rest of him, his wrist twisted unnaturally. One of these men had broken the bone. Jaehwan’s best guess was the man on his knees, who had Taekwoon’s legs parted around him and his ass in his lap, his thick cock tearing into Taekwoon with each vicious thrust.

“You’re so fucking tight, doll. You’re going to be so full of my seed and everyone else’s, once they get their turn. You should have never been allowed to walk around without anything in your ass.”

One of the man’s hands was wrapped around Taekwoon’s throat, tight enough that it seemed to restrict Taekwoon’s airflow, his body jostled with every of the man’s thrusts. His other hand was around one of Taekwoon’s thighs, fingers digging more bruises into his flesh.

The six other men were all looking on in varying degrees of arousal and entertainment, some already hard in their pants. They laughed and shouted, letting everyone know what they’d do to Taekwoon when they had him.

Jaehwan took it all in with a calm heralding a ruthless storm. The man let go of Taekwoon’s throat only to strike his face with a flat hand, shouting, “You fucking look at me!”

Taekwoon’s eyes opened, but instead of the man, they stared straight at Jaehwan. At first, there was no sign of recognition in his gaze, but then he blinked, a strange light flickering to life in his eyes. He mouthed something at Jaehwan, and then the man seized his jaw and yanked his head around to face him.

“ _Jaehwan_?” the man demanded, breaking into hoarse laughter. “You’re praying to the gods now?” His palm struck Taekwoon’s cheek again, the slap resounding in the room. He grunted suddenly, thrusts going from steady and hard to frantic and even harder with the fast approach of orgasm. It was over in a heartbeat, a mighty groan ripped from his throat as his hips stuttered to a halt and he filled Taekwoon with his release. More laughter erupted from his goons.

Blinking away the haze, the man growled and struck Taekwoon with a flat hand again, before seizing his jaw in a bruising hold to stare into wet eyes. “The gods won’t look twice at filth like you, doll. I’m your god, understand? I decide whether you get to live or not. You should pray to _me_.”

Something in Jaehwan snapped, and he jolted into motion, feet taking him across the floor towards the small gathering. Next to notice his presence was a familiar face standing alongside the wall, his expression turning into one of horror as he stuttered warnings to the others. Jaehwan sneered, and Kim Sihyeong tripped, suddenly eager to flee.

Finally, Jaehwan had the attention of all the men present in this room, and he came to a deliberate halt in front of their gathering. The man in the middle shoved Taekwoon off him and stood, tucking himself back inside his pants with the nonchalance of someone who thought he owned the world, someone who believed he would walk away from this room alive. As though he hadn’t just taken what was Jaehwan, like he hadn’t just _compared himself to his gods_.

Jaehwan’s eyes darted to Taekwoon, who had curled up on the floor, making himself as small as possible. Blood mixed with semen seeped out between his buttocks, and now that his back was no longer obscured by the floor, Jaehwan saw clear signs of brutal flogging across his skin, reaching down to his thighs, red welts oozing blood still. His ass was bright red; even the untrained eyes would find the handprint left behind on his right cheek.

The man had the audacity to smirk up at Jaehwan, like he was proud of his handiwork. He probably was. He struck Jaehwan as someone who liked causing pain, the way his eyes were still clouded over with excitement and satisfaction.

“You must be his bodyguard,” the man said, shrugging a careless shoulder. “You’ve been doing an awful job so far, haven’t you?”

When Kim Sihyeong, whom Jaehwan had watched out of the corner of his eye as he edged towards the door, flew across the room and crashed against the wall behind Jaehwan, the men looked behind them in bewilderment, like they would find someone who could have flung a grown man through a room with mere human strength.

Jaehwan lunged for the man’s throat, wrapping his hand around it and _squeezing_. The man’s attention was on him immediately, gurgling when he failed to draw in air and scratching at Jaehwan’s hand and arm. His face was quickly turning red, and Jaehwan’s lips widened in a wicked smile.

He held up a hand, freezing the other men in their spots before they could break out of their stupor and come to their leader’s aid. He didn’t look away from the man, eyes boring into his. “Who are you,” he asked, softly, dangerously, “to dare touch what belongs to someone else? Who are you to dare call yourself a god?”

Jaehwan sneered, sending the man sprawling to the floor with a forceful push. The man’s hands went to his throat, gasping desperately for air, but before he could breathe in more than a good lungful, Jaehwan stole the air from around his head with a flourish of his hand. The man looked wide-eyed at Jaehwan, and Jaehwan was pleased to see horror slowly dawning on him as his mouth opened and closed futilely.

“You are beneath the lowest creature in this world,” Jaehwan hissed, flinging one of the man’s croons away and into a wall, cracking his skull against the stone and suffering the same quick death as Kim Sihyeong. Jaehwan could have made their deaths so much more painful. They should be grateful.

“I gave you humans a fair chance,” said Jaehwan lowly, eyes narrowing as he considered the pitiful lot. The man gasped wildly as Jaehwan relinquished his hold on the air around him. “I watched you, for ten months, to see if you were worth it, when my brothers and sister asked me to. For _ten months_ I have watched you all, and I have seen more corruption, deceit, and death than the war three-hundred years ago. You are merciless to your own people. You rape, slaughter, and plunder as you please. You have let me down. Every single one of you has let me down, has let my brothers and sister down.”

Another man went flying, hammering against the wall hard enough for the sound to reverberate through the room. Like the others, he didn’t get back up.

Jaehwan turned his glare to the man, relishing the way he flinched away from him as he drew closer. “You said the gods have forsaken Taekwoon?” he asked softly, sinking into a crouch in front of the man. “Ignorant fool. You dared lay your filthy hands on a god’s possession, dared fuck what belongs _to me_. You _dared_.” He broke into laughter, tinted with something dark and devoid of mirth. “You actually _dared_. I can’t believe it.”

He got back on his feet and declared, “I am done.” He stared down at the man, eyes hardening, smile vanishing from his face. “I will return to my brothers and sister. Until you all remember to whom you owe your existence to – until then, the world shall burn. Your pleas will be ignored. I have had enough. It is time to teach you a lesson.”

“Y-you –” the man stuttered. He had lost every ounce of confidence he had held himself with mere minutes earlier. Humans were so _weak_. It was disgusting. “You are –”

Jaehwan smiled. “I am the god whose name Taekwoon called out, when you forced yourself on him. I am the god known for my temper and wrath, and you have earned mine.”

“W-wait –”

“ _Silence,_ ” Jaehwan demanded, and the man obeyed with a terrified whimper. “I am not my brothers. I am not my sister. When I have been wronged, I do not easily forgive.” He sneered. “I will allow your worthless existence no longer in this world. Be gone.”

A quick death would be merciful, which Jaehwan wasn’t in the mood for, so instead he turned his attention onwards. He seized the man’s mind and slowly took it apart piece by piece, shutting functions down one at a time until what remained were only his own horrors and phantom pains. It was a horrible feeling, a lurking dread and understanding that the man would have as he realised he was dying. He lost control over most of his body, lungs straining to take in air and pain ransacking his form, but there was still time before his breaths ceased. Until then, he was defenceless against his own mind, a battle he wouldn’t win. Not when his mind was in the hands of a vengeful god.

Four men remained, and Jaehwan wasted little time on them. It was over in seconds, the men crumbling to the floor after Jaehwan shattered their skulls.

Taekwoon hadn’t moved an inch since he had curled up after Jaehwan’s arrival, a pool of blood soaking the stones beneath him. He was breathing, still, which Jaehwan supposed was a small mercy as he sank into a crouch by his human. He considered him quietly, for a few heartbeats, before he reached out to touch Taekwoon’s shoulder. Taekwoon flinched, a wet whimper escaping him.

Jaehwan hushed him, gently taking his chin in his hand and turning his head. Red-rimmed eyes looked at him, slowly dragging over his features. Jaehwan got the distinct impression that although Taekwoon’s eyes were open, he wasn’t actually seeing.

His head rolled to the side when Jaehwan let go, eyes fluttering closed. His breaths, once Jaehwan hoisted him into his arms, were faint against Jaehwan’s neck. He didn’t make any sounds of discomfort despite the agony he had to be in, motionless in Jaehwan’s hold.

Taekwoon would die in his arms, he realised. He would bleed out on his clothes, onto the stones that already bore so much of his blood. Jaehwan held Taekwoon tighter, inhaling deeply, embracing the anger that settled over him like a second skin, familiar and welcome.

He would set fire to the world himself.

-

Jaehwan stood before his gardens, taking in the view. He knew this garden inside and out, had stood in this spot countless times, and yet it still managed to hold a certain awe. The gentle breeze rustled the leaves, kissed his cheeks and tugged at his clothes, tempting him to take a stroll between the rows of fragrant bushes and flowers, trees abloom. He had always loved his gardens and the tranquillity. His gardens never let him down.

A pale hand appeared in his eyesight as arms wound around his shoulders, a warm presence pressing up behind him, a weight settling on his shoulder. Jaehwan raised his chin, glancing to the side to see Taekwoon, dark fringes falling into his eyes as he took in the gardens in front of them. Then he met Jaehwan’s eyes, fire flaring in his gaze.

Jaehwan smiled.

He had done the only thing he could think of to preserve Taekwoon’s fire, to always have him by his side. Taekwoon would always be at his prettiest, his fiercest. His fire would always burn, now.

No one could touch Taekwoon anymore. No one but Jaehwan, because Taekwoon belonged to him.

And as they watched the gardens, the world of mortals burned.

* * *

Fun fact #1: I imagine Yoojin and Hakyeon are there for Taekwoon when he needs comfort and parental figures. He’s not miraculously fine after all the abuse he suffered, and when Jaehwan can’t help, Hakyeon and Yoojin take over and do their best. Taekwoon becomes closest to Wonshik, and Hakyeon and Yoojin, but it takes some time for him to get close to Hongbin and Sanghyuk.

Fun fact #2: The quote: “Person B content with watching the whole world burn for sake of Person A’s well-being.”

Fun fact #3: I love MAMAMOO's Hwasa, and I love HISTORY's Sihyeong (though Kyungil is my bias). Pfffft.

Right. Content I may be with this one, but I still worry about the pacing and the world and shit. Hmm. I hope you enjoyed it, though!

If you have questions, ask away and I’ll answer. Also, if you catch any typos neither my beta nor I have caught, or have other forms of constructive critique, please let me know so I can edit and improve my writing!

Kudos and comments are worth a fortune to me, and may save characters in future works <3


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